Stocks surged higher Thursday after new data soothed inflation concerns and the price of oil tumbled to its lowest level in five months. The advance carried the Nasdaq composite index to a new 52-week high.

The Nasdaq rose 32.53, or 1.49 percent, to 2,220.46, just surpassing its previous 52-week high, reached in July. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.59, or 0.94 percent, to 1,242. 80.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average climbed 45.46, or 0. 43 percent, to 10,720.22. The Dow lagged the other major indicators after being held back by component Altria Group Inc., which fell on a Goldman Sachs downgrade.

The rally gained momentum during the session as the market responded to a drop in interest rates and lower crude oil prices.

Technology stocks have led previous rallies and anyone watching Google Inc.'s stock cross 400 dollars a share Thursday could only hope this time would be no different.

In company news, Google rose 5.30 dollars to 403.45 dollars after a bullish report from Piper Jaffray's well-respected Internet analyst said a new service, called Google Base, could " create massive advertising inventory for Google."

General Motors Corp. rose 1.34 dollars to 22.63 dollars after hitting an 18-year low Wednesday. News reports that GM CEO Rick Wagoner posted a letter on the company's internal Web site assuring employees that GM's finances are sound lifted the stock, which has been falling on worries that the United Auto Workers could strike at Delphi Corp.,GM's largest supplier.

Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation's leading bookseller, rose 1.53 dollars to 39.98 dollars after it said it had a slim profit in the third quarter, down sharply from a year ago but beating analysts' expectations, and boosted its profit outlook for the full year.

Advancing issues led decliners by almost 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange where volume was 1.59 billion shares, down from 1. 69 billion Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua