Dow Rises Nearly 300, Moves Back Above 10,000

Stocks started the day stronger and didn't looked back, helped by a rebound in energy names which have been under heavy pressure recently related to the giant Gulf oil spill.

The Dow closed up 273 points and has crossed the psychologically important 10,000 level, ending at 10,172. The Nasdaq rose 60 points and the S&P 500 rose 31 points.

After falling 16% yesterday and over 50% since the spill started, BP (NYSE: BP) rose 12%. Yesterday's intense pressure in the stock was related to fears of a dividend cut or an ultimate bankruptcy.

In addition to the BP rebound, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) was up 12%, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) up 4%, Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) is up 7%. Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) is up 11%, Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) is up 7% and Schlumberger N.V. (NYSE: SLB) is up 7%.

The beaten-up Euro saw a bid today, rising over 1% to 1.21.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) bucked the uptrend today on report that there is a second SEC probe related to its Hudson Mezzanine CDO sold in 2006. The probe into the CDO may not lead to any additional charges versus Goldman. Shares closed down 2%.

On the economic front, jobless claims showed now signs of slowing. The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims dropped by 3,000 to 456,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000, missing the economist estimate of 450,000. The four-week moving average was 463,000, and increased from the previous revised rate of 460,500.

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