NEW YORK — Investors barreled into stocks Wednesday after an upbeat report on industrial production raised hopes that the economy is strengthening.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108 points to another high for the year as General Electric Co. and International Business Machines Corp. jumped. It was the market’s eighth gain in nine days.
The Federal Reserve’s promising report on industrial production came a day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession likely was over. Investors have scooped up stocks for six months in anticipation of a rebound.
The central bank’s report that industrial activity surged 0.8 percent in August topped expectations. The Fed also said July’s improvement was twice what it had initially reported.
The report and rising commodity prices lifted shares of manufacturing companies including aluminum producer Alcoa Inc.
Other big gains came from financial stocks, which have been building momentum as they push above certain price levels watched by traders. GE, which has a large financial arm and often trades like a bank stock, jumped for a third day. American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose more than 3 percent.
“People are looking to play catch-up at this point,” said Christian Bendixen, director of technical research at Bay Crest Partners LLC in New York.
The Dow rose 108.30, 1.1 percent, to 9,791.71, its highest close since Oct. 6, when it ended at 9,956. The index is up 11.6 percent for the year.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16.13, 1.5 percent, to 1,068.76, while the Nasdaq composite rose 30.51, 1.5 percent, to 2,133.15.
