Around the World's Markets: New York

US STOCKS surged, with strong sales reports from retailers and the interest-rate cuts in Europe sparking a rally that pushed major indices to record closes for the third time this week. Much of the advance came in the afternoon after early profit-taking.

The Dow closed up 112.39 points, 1.11 per cent, at 10,197.7, helped by gains in its financial services. The Nasdaq Composite shot up 28.96 points, 1.14 per cent, to a record close of 2,573.39, while the broader S&P 500 gained 17 points, 1.29 per cent, to 1,344.