Markets

US stocks rally on growth data, Facebook fever

Published Updated

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.78 points (0.66 percent) to 12,716.69 in closing trade, well off session highs.

The S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, advanced 11.64 points (0.89 percent) to 1,324.05, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was the strongest performer, adding 34.32 points (1.22 percent) to 2,848.16.

"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, according to US media reports.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012