Stocks stage afternoon rally

NEW YORK (AP) - A late afternoon surge pushed stocks higher for the third day straight. The Dow Jones industrial average finished with a gain of 144 points Wednesday, but only after veering much of the day from gains to losses and back again.

Gold plunged $104 an ounce and government bond yields rose as investors became less fearful.

An encouraging rise in orders for cars, aircraft and other long-lasting goods in July helped ease worries that the U.S. was headed for another recession. The government said durable goods orders rose 4 percent, the biggest increase since March. Orders fell in June.

The stock market spent most of the day looking like a driver given bad directions. The Dow headed lower at the start of trading, turned up 115 points by 10 a.m., then pulled another U-turn and was down 48 points shortly after midday.

Near the end of the day, the Dow retraced its route and rose steadily in the last 90 minutes of trading to end up 143.95 points, or 1.3 percent, at 11,320.71. The Dow had surged 322 points the day before, the biggest gain since Aug. 11.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.25 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,177.60. The Nasdaq rose 21.63, or 0.9 percent, to 2,467.69.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 2.29 percent from 2.15 percent late Tuesday. The yield had fallen below 2 percent last week, a record low, as investors piled into lower-risk assets. Bond yields fall when demand for them rises.