Markets

US stocks soar on Facebook IPO hopes

Published Updated

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 104.52 points (0.83 percent) to 12,737.43 in the first five minutes of trade.

The S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, added 10.63 points (0.81 percent) to 1,323.04, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 18.06 points (0.64 percent) to 2,831.90.

"Wall Street is cheering increased speculation about a long-awaited initial public offering from social media site Facebook," said Karee Venema at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Facebook is poised to file papers for an IPO seeking to raise at least $5 billion as early as Wednesday morning, according to US media reports.

US stocks closed mixed around the neutral line Tuesday after the release of data showing continuing weakness in home prices and slumping consumer confidence.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012