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U.S. stock indexes back to levels before ‘flash crash’ day

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Like it never happened?

Major U.S. stock indexes on Wednesday have recouped all or nearly all of their losses from last week’s mini-crash and its aftermath.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a gain of 148.65 points, or 1.4%, to 10,896.91. That put the index above its closing level of 10,868.12 on May 5 -- the day before Thursday’s plunge of 348 points, which was the net loss after the “flash crash” that saw the index plummet almost 1,000 points intraday, then rebound.

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The Dow also fell 140 points Friday, then rocketed 405 points Monday after the European Union announced a massive rescue plan for its weakest states.

European stock markets rallied again Wednesday on optimism that the rescue will work. It helped the mood that Portugal was able to raise $1.3 billion by selling 10-year bonds at an auction that apparently saw strong investor demand.

Wall Street got a boost from the government’s report that exports rose 3.2% in March to a 17-month high, although the nation’s trade deficit still widened, hurt by a higher bill for oil imports. A bullish long-term business outlook from IBM also underpinned the market.

The Standard & Poor’s 500, up 15.88 points, or 1.4%, to 1,171.67 for the day, was above its May 5 close of 1,165.90 and just 3.7% below its 2010 closing high of 1,217.28 on April 23.

At last Thursday’s flash-crash low the S&P was down 12.4% from its 2010 high.

The Russell 2,000 small-stock index, up 20.63 points, or 3%, to 716.11 in Wednesday’s rally, was above its May 4 close of 709.70 and off 3.5% from its 2010 high reached April 23.

-- Tom Petruno

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