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Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 bounce back after hitting nearly 5-1/2 year lows.

By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: November 13, 2008: 2:53 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street rallied Thursday afternoon in volatile trade as major stock gauges hit 5-1/2 year lows before rebounding with nearly an hour left in the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added over 150 points, or 1.9% with around 90 minutes left in the session. The blue-chip average lost as much as 317 points earlier in the afternoon and got within 100 points of its 5-1/2 year low.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index gained 2.3% after briefly touching a trading low not seen since 2003.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose 1.7% after touching a trading low not seen since 2003.

Stocks had tumbled each day this week and through early Thursday afternoon. But the selloff left the major gauges at or near levels not seen since Spring of 2003. Those are levels that many market pros think could represent a bear market bottom, at least in the near term.

After hitting those lows, stocks bounced back into positive territory. Rising oil prices helped, giving a leg up to oil services stocks including Dow components Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500).

Market breadth turned positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by three to two on volume of 1.15 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by almost four to three on volume of 2.05 billion shares.

Here's a look at what was moving stocks before 2:30 p.m. ET.

Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment last week rose to the highest level since just after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the government reported. Additionally, the number of people continuing to file claims rose to a 25-year high.

"New claims for unemployment are kind of a leading indicator and they tend to foretell trouble," said Bryant Evans, portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management.

And beyond the day-to-day reports, the outlook remains bleak, he said.

"I think we're seeing a direct consequence of a slowing macro economy, beyond the shorter-term problem of the credit markets," he said.

The September trade gap narrowed to $56.5 billion in October from $59.1 billion in August, as crude oil imports declined and the recession took a toll on exports.

Another report showed continued erosion in the housing market. Almost 85,000 homes were lost to foreclosure in October, according to a report from online tracking firm RealtyTrac. The report also showed that the number of homeowners receiving foreclosure filings rose 5% in October from the previous month and jumped 25% from a year ago.

RealtyTrac estimates that over 936,000 homes have been lost to foreclosure since August 2007.

Meanwhile, lawmakers were grilling executives at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. The head of the banking committee, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said banks getting cash as part of the $700 billion bank bailout have to start lending it out.

Furthermore, in the House of Representatives, a hearing on regulation of the hedge fund industry was under way.

Company news: Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) reported a higher third-quarter profit that beat estimates. However, the world's largest retailer also said that a stronger dollar would hurt its fourth-quarter and full-year profits. Shares fell modestly.

Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) warned late Wednesday that its already sluggish fourth-quarter sales forecast won't hold up, with sales now expected to be even lower as chip demand continues to erode. However its shares were little changed, after sliding 7% in extended-hours trading Wednesday.

Chipmakers Applied Materials (AMAT, Fortune 500) and National Semiconductor (NSM) both warned that fiscal second-quarter sales won't meet forecasts, and announced job cuts.

And automakers continued to retreat with the Democrats and the Bush Administration at odds over whether the companies should receive additional government support. Although some companies can use bankruptcy as a means of reorganizing and coming back stronger, for GM (GM, Fortune 500) that likely wouldn't work.

Financial shares fell again, including Dow components American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500).

Other Dow decliners included Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) andHewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500).

Citigroup cut profit forecasts on both HP and Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) due to a worldwide deterioration in demand for personal computers.

On the upside, shares of Sprint (S, Fortune 500) rallied 14% on reports that the company has offered voluntary buyouts to employees as a means of trimming costs.

Other markets: In global trading, Asian markets tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 5.3%. However, European markets ended mixed, with the London FTSE down 0.3% and the German DAX up 0.6%, even after a report showed that the German economy fell into recession.

The dollar gained against the euro and fell versus the yen.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $6.30 to $712 an ounce.

U.S. light crude oil for December delivery was up $1.89 to $58.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, cutting early gains after a government report showed crude inventories were flat last week but gasoline stockpiles rose more than expected. Oil closed at a 21-month low on Wednesday.

Gasoline prices dipped another 2.4 cents to a national average of $2.178 a gallon, according to a survey of credit-card activity released Thursday by motorist group AAA. The decline marks the 57th consecutive day that prices have decreased. During that time, prices dropped by $1.68 a gallon, or 43.5%.

Lending rates: The cost of borrowing rose modestly Thursday, but remained near recently improved levels.

The 3-month Libor rose to 2.15% from a four-year low of 2.13% Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.com. Overnight Libor rose to 0.4, up from 0.38% Wednesday, and up modestly from an all-time low of 0.32% last week. Libor is a key interbank lending rate.

The Libor-OIS spread, a measure of cash scarcity, fell to 1.61% from 1.71% Friday. The TED spread, a key indicator of risk, rose to 2% from 1.99% Monday.

The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill, seen as the safest place to put money in the short term, rose to 0.17% from 0.14% Wednesday, with investors preferring to take a small return on their money than risk the stock market. Last month, the 3-month yield reached a 68-year low around 0% as investor panic peaked.

Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.72% from 3.65% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.