Technology stocks saw some of the biggest gains, with the Nasdaq CompositeIndex up 149 points, or 3.14 per cent, at 4,903.87, a new intra-day high,marking the first time the index moved above 4,900.

Semiconductor stocks jumped after the Wall Street firms, Goldman Sachs andSG Cowen, made positive comments about some stocks in the sector. AlteraCorp surged 14-5/8 to 96-1/2 and Texas Instruments rose 11-3/4 to 185, andIntel Corp, a Dow component, rose 3-1/8 to 118-7/8. All three touched newhighs.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor index surged 6.2 per cent to anew high.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 210 points, or 2.07 percent, at10,374, its highest level in three weeks. The average was bolstered by gainsboth in technology and "old economy" stocks, which have been battered byfears that a tight labour market or any signs of inflation could unleash awave of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in its quest to avertinflation.

Chemical giant DuPont rose 4-1/4 to 51-1/8 and industrial conglomerateMinnesota Mining & Manufacturing was up 4-3/16 at 90-1/4.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 27 points, or 1.96 per cent, at 1,408.The rally started after February's employment report indicated the economymay be slowing and that inflation remains under control.

The US labour department reported that non-farm employment rose by asmaller-than-expected 43,000 in February, while the jobless rate increasedto 4.1 per cent from 4.0 the previous month. Of the new jobs created inFebruary, half were census workers, Bruce Steinberg, the chief economist atMerrill Lynch, said in a note to clients. Wages rose, but in line withexpectations. Average hourly wages inched up 0.3 per cent to $13.53 from$13.49.

Economists surveyed by Reuters predicted, on average, that non-farm payrollswould gain 206,000 and the unemployment rate would be 4.0 per cent inFebruary. In January, payrolls increased by a revised 384,000.