Stocks Rise Again, and Nasdaq Positive for Year

Updated from 4:12 p.m. EDT

Stocks in New York rose again Thursday, with tech leading the way, and the move sent the Nasdaq into positive territory for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.75 points, or 2.3%, to 7924.56, and the S&P 500 tacked on 18.98 points, or 2.3%, to 832.86. The Nasdaq added 58.05 points, or 3.8%, to 1587.

Industrials were upbeat, and so were technology stocks. On the Dow, Caterpillar(CAT) and Alcoa(AA) added 6.5% and 5.2%, respectively. Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) was up 7.1%, and Intel(INTC) gained 5.9%.

Best Buy(BBY) was also on the rise, adding 12.6% to $37.67, after reporting better-than-anticipated earnings and expectations for the year.

That news shows that retail demand is still there, says Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist for Schaeffer's. "But tech is also leading, and that's not specifically because of Best Buy. The Nasdaq being green for the year is a nice sign."

Still, says Matt Smith, president of Smith Affiliated Capital, "The majority of the stuff you're seeing now is quarter end, window dressing and short covering."

Smith believes the market could see a selloff in the near future. "You have to wait for the end of the quarter and the second week of April when earnings come out and see how the bank-holding companies have done," he says.

The new day meant more data. The U.S. government reported in its third and final update on fourth-quarter GDP that the total value of goods and services produced within the nation shrank at an annualized rate of 6.3%, vs. its last estimate of a 6.2% contraction. Economists had expected the final report to show a drop of 6.5%.