NEW YORK — U.S. stocks made a broad, sharp rebound Thursday, ending three straight days of losses, as economic data and an upbeat forecast from FedEx helped the market shift its focus from Japan’s nuclear crisis to the domestic recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 161.29 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,774.59, with 24 of its 30 components gaining. It was the Dow’s biggest one-day gain in two weeks.
Hewlett-Packard and Pfizer led advancers with gains of more than 3 percent.
“After a while, even the market senses it has overdone the anguish,” said Bruce McCain, chief market strategist at Key Private Bank. “And, we had strong reports on the U.S. economy, particularly with the leading indicators this morning, which were not only strong but accelerating.”
On Wednesday, the Dow fell 242.12 points, or 2 percent, to 11,613.30, taking its biggest single-day hit since Aug. 11. Investors withdrew to the sidelines amid trepidation over the evolving nuclear crisis in earthquake-ravaged Japan.
“It was perhaps the last gasp of the corrective process that really began with the tumult in Libya; maybe the markets have done enough penance,” McCain said of the market’s recent downward trend.
But it’s hard to say if Thursday’s rally will be sustained or the rise is part of a topping-out process that would have equities resume their decline, McCain added.
After sliding into negative terrain for the year Wednesday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was back in the black for 2011 on Thursday. For the session, it gained 16.84 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,273.72.
The Nasdaq composite added 19.23 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,636.05. It’s still modestly lower for the year.
A 3.1 percent rise in energy stocks led gains for all of the benchmark’s 10 industry groups. Utilities have dropped hard this week on expectations of Japan’s difficulty in containing radiation leaks at its earthquake-damaged plant.
On the data front, the U.S. government reported first-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week, while separate data had consumer prices rising 0.5 percent in February and U.S. manufacturing output increasing for a sixth consecutive month.
Also, the Conference Board’s leading economic indicators rose 0.8 percent in February to mark the eighth consecutive monthly rise in the index compiled by the private research group.
