Wall Street extends rally as economic hopes rise

Wall Street is extending its rally as it grows more optimistic that the economy is on the mend.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 2 percent as the world's finance leaders made plans in London to repair the global economy and tighten regulation.

Bank stocks got an especially big boost when the Financial Accounting Standards Board eased rules forcing banks to value their assets at current prices. The change should help banks reduce losses.

In the first minutes of trading, the Dow is up 165, or 2.1 percent, at 7,925. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 16, or 2 percent, at 827. The Nasdaq composite index is up 27, or 1.8 percent, at 1,580.7.

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