Industrial Stocks: China Spurs Rally

Hopes that Beijing will act this week to stimulate China's economy and an improvement in a measure of Chinese manufacturing sentiment helped lift a variety of industrial stocks in the U.S. on Wednesday.

Shares of construction equipment maker Caterpillar(CAT Quote), for example, were surging 12.5% to $25.28, outpacing a broader rally that saw the Dow rise 2.2%. CNH Global(CNH Quote) shares were up 5.5% to $6.50, and Kubota(KUB Quote) was up 7.3% to $25.18.

Aluminum concern Alcoa(AA Quote), meanwhile, was rising 11.4% to $6.16, miner Freeport-McMoRan(FCX Quote) was up 13.9% to $32.25, and mining equipment maker Joy Global(JOYG Quote) was up 10.6% to $17.53

Rio Tinto(RTP Quote), which mines and processes mineral resources, also got a hearty boost Wednesday. Its shares were recently up 11.2% to $103.08. In a similar vein, BHP Billiton(BHP Quote) was climbing 8% to $37.85.

Elsewhere:

U.S. Steel(X Quote) was up 6.4% to $18.31.

Nucor(NUE Quote) was up 6.8% to $34.31.

Commercial Metals(CMC Quote) was up 7.9% to $10.25.