Dow powers back

Wall Street's top stock market index, the Dow Jones, has powered back from last week's losses, climbing above the 10,000 points level again.

At one point the Dow had gained more than 290 points, but when the market closed the index traded at 10,038 - up 176 points.

The 1.8% rebound came after Friday's drop, when the Dow plunged below the 10,000 points level for the first time since April 1999.

Technology shares, though, had a more difficult day. The Nasdaq index lost more than 120 points to 4,466.

However, as bargain hunters moved in to snap up the discounted shares the Nasdaq managed to recover nearly all its losses. It closed 12 points at 4,577.

"The Dow is extremely oversold and the Nasdaq is coming off record highs", said Arnie Owen at Cruttenden Roth in explaining the divergence in the indices.

Volatile markets

Many analysts believe that US stock markets are in for a rough ride during the coming days, as investors try to shift their money into high-growth companies while interest rate fears continue to hit many stocks.

Richard Babson, chairman of Babson-United Investment Advisors, said it was "less a question of tech versus financial stocks and more a question of looking at specific companies. There is a continued expectation for higher interest rates".

The Dow Jones is still down on its all-time high of 11,722.98, which it reached on 14 January this year.

The Nasdaq, in contrast, is still trading close to the historic record of 4,617 points, which the market reached on Thursday last week.