The stock market surged again on Thursday, putting the Dow Jones industrial average on track for its best week since 2011.
Investors plowed money back into stocks following a slump the week before, encouraged by a 4 percent jump in the price of crude oil and Pfizer's $16 billion deal to buy the drugmaker Hospira.
On Thursday:
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 211.86 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,884.88.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 21.01 points, or 1 percent, to 2,062.52.
The Nasdaq rose 48.39 points, or 1 percent, to 4,765.10.
For the week:
The Dow is up 719.93 points, or 4.2 percent.
The S&P 500 index is up 67.53 points, or 3.4 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 129.86 points, or 2.8 percent.
For the year:
The Dow is up 61.81 points, or 0.4 percent.
The S&P 500 index is up 3.62 points, or 0.2 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 29.04 points, or 0.6 percent.
