Stock indexes up 1% on hopes for recovery





Signs of slowing job losses in the U.S. sparked the best one-day gain in stocks in more than two weeks yesterday as investors bet more aggressively on economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 122.06 points higher, up 1.2 percent, at 10,566.20, its best one-day increase in both point and percentage terms since Feb.16.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gained 1.4percent. Its financial sector rose 2 percent, getting a boost after an afternoon report showed that borrowing by consumers unexpectedly climbed in January.

The Nasdaq composite index finished up 1.5percent, helped by a 3.9percent gain in Apple after the electronics maker said its iPad tablet will be available in the U.S. on April 3.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls fell by 36,000 in February. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7percent.