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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10000 for the first time in a year Wednesday after a sharp rally sparked by earnings news and investors' appetite for risk.

Although indexes usually "test" such barriers, with sellers rushing in to book quick profits the first few times an index closes above such a level and sending it back down, this time the Dow barrelled through the same day it first crossed 10000 intra-day.

The Dow finished up 144.90 points, or 1.5%, to end near its intra-day high at 10015.86, its highest level since October 3, 2008, when markets were plunging amid the outbreak of financial crisis on Wall Street.

The Dow's gain on Wednesday was its biggest one-day rise since Aug. 21 in both point and percentage terms.

The move above 10000 was fuelled by better than expected results from Dow components Intel and JP Morgan Chase and a smaller decline than anticipated in US. retail sales, which boosted hopes that stocks' momentum may carry through year end.

"Psychologically, Dow 10000 could have a real effect on things," in the near future, said Frank Ingarra, a portfolio manager at Hennessy Funds. "It might force some people to finally believe the rally is for real and get off the sidelines, where a lot of retail investors have been since the lows."

On the floor of the venerable NYSE, the push above 10000 was met with a round of applause in a more subdued reaction to the first move above that level in March 1999. Traders took out their old paperweights and hats from the late 1990s.

"It's almost relief about where the market is. It's just a number, but up 150 is up 150 and coming from where we were in March, who would have thought we'd be there again," said Edward Schreier, managing director and head of floor operations for Deutsche Bank.

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Still, traders downplayed the significance of being back above 10000 and said the next wave of earnings reports and economic data likely will determine if the 52% run in the Dow since March will continue.

Other indexes hit fresh one-year highs as well. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% to 2172.23. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% to end at 1092.02, helped by gains in every sector except telecommunications, which was flat in percentage terms.

Trading volume was slightly below average Wednesday, as about 5.6 billion New York Stock Exchange-listed shares changed hands. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of about three-to-one.

The first earnings surprise fuelling the rally came after Tuesday's close, when Intel posted a 6% decline in third-quarter profit and an 8% decline in revenue. Both figures beat expectations, and the chipmaker issued a surprisingly strong revenue forecast for the current period -- a particularly important move at a time when analysts are looking for increases in corporate sales as evidence of a broader economic rebound. The report drove Intel shares 1.7% higher in Wednesday's action.

JP Morgan Chase rose 3.3% after reporting early Wednesday a ninefold increase in its earnings per share as strong investment-banking revenue outweighed another sizable provision for loan losses. That news was particularly helpful to the financial sector with several banks set to report earnings this week. Earnings from and are on tap Thursday and is set to report on Friday.

Traders eagerly anticipated the return of the Dow to a major round-number benchmark -- this time, on the way higher -- as an important symbol that markets are returning to normal. As has been the case since the Dow pushed above 9500 earlier this month, traders were again breaking out relics of previous moves into the 10000 level, such as hats and paperweights.

Other indexes hit fresh one-year highs as well. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% to 2172.23. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% to end at 1092.02, helped by gains in every sector except telecommunications, which was flat in percentage terms.

Along with the stock market, oil futures in New York settled at a high for the year, $75.18 a barrel. The US dollar was pressured as investors moved into riskier assets.

"This entire rally across assets has its roots in the most aggressive monetary policy in the history of mankind. This is a liquidity fuelled recovery and liquidity fueled stock market recovery," said Howard Ward, chief investment officer for growth equities at Gamco Investors.