Around the World's Markets: NEW YORK

STOCKS SURGED to record highs after recovering from early falls as optimism on first-quarter earnings spurred a rally led by banks and brokerages, but hi-tech stocks suffered from jitters about Yahoo!'s upcoming earnings.

The Dow ended up 121.82 points, or 1.22 per cent, at 10,085.31, its second record close of the week. The Nasdaq Composite also clawed back early losses, but still ended slightly lower, down 18.81 points at 2,544.36. The S&P 500 closed at 1,326.90, up 9.00 points.