Dow Jones nears 11,000

Wall Street continued to enjoy a new-year surge as the major indexes hit their highest levels since 9-11.

Preliminary results show the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 77 to reach 10,959.

The index has not closed above 11,000 since June 7, 2001. It gained 165 points Monday through yesterday.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached their highest levels since May 2001. The Nasdaq rose 29 to 2,306 and the S&P 500 climbed 12 to 1,285.

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The Dow was bolstered by an upbeat response to IBM's pension news while Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. carried the tech sector.

Investors interpreted a Labor Department report saying December job gains were about half of the expected forecast as an indication the Federal Reserve will end interest rate hikes.

The report said employers added 108,000 jobs last month, compared to 305,000 in November, which signaled a slowing economy.

It's a case where bad news is good news for the economy, said John Caldwell, chief investment strategist for McDonald Financial Group.

"After the market rallied hard on the Fed minutes earlier this week, the perception had been building that good, but not strong, economic data is positive because that signals the Fed having to raise rates less," he said, according to the Associated Press.

The rise in crude oil prices did little to hinder the momentum. The latest figures from the New York Mercantile Exchange showed a barrel of light crude up $1.36 at $64.15.

IBM stock rose $1.49 to $83.99 after the company announced it will freeze its $48 billion pension fund in 2008 and instead increase contributions to 401(k) retirement plans.