Stocks jumped, with technology issues holding strong gains as investors went on a pre-Christmas shopping spree and snatched up marquee names from the bargain basement.

Expectations that an early cut in interest rates, which would trim corporate borrowing costs, injected some cheer into a Nasdaq market that only two day ago hit a 21-month low as earnings warnings from high-tech firms rained down.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 176.93 points, or 7.56 per cent, at 2,517.05, holding most of the session's gain on a lift from technology heavyweights like Cisco Systems, the Internet infrastructure titan, and network computer maker Sun Microsystems.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 148.27 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 10,635.56, buoyed by International Business Machines, which was up more than 9 per cent.