By the day's end, the Dow was up 342.95 points, over 3 per cent, to finish at 11,215.92, its highest close in eight months. It was the fifth-largest point gain ever for the index.Investors were also soothed by better-than-expected inflation news released yesterday. The Consumer Price Index registered a 0.3 per cent rise in industry, which was a little less than had been predicted by economists. The inflation news encouraged speculation that the Fed will cut rates once again when it meets on 27 June.It was a good day also on the technology-heavy Nasdaq index, which climbed 80.8 points, or 3.9 per cent, to close at 2,166.4. The buying might also have been encouraged by positive outlook comments from Applied Materials, the semiconductor leader, and by BEA Systems, the software maker.Hewlett-Packard, the computer and printer maker, reported quarterly earnings after the closing bell that were down by half from the same period a year ago. On the brighter side, however, its net profit of $356m (£249m), or 18 cents a share, exceeded estimates by Wall Street analysts. HP had forecast earnings per share of 13 to 17 cents in April, after warning of depressed demand.Applied Materials reported that its net income was similarly down by 52 per cent because of the wide slump in the microchip sector.

Investors seemed more interested, however, in comments from company executives predicting that the bottom might already be in sight and that the environment will soon improve.A few more days remain in this season of earnings reports, and the market could still take some new knocks. "There's a ton of money out there, and whenever people see a rally, they say, 'Hey, maybe I better put some money to work here'," noted Ned Collins of Daiwa Securities of America. "I just don't believe we have come to the end of profit warnings, and I think earnings are going to be key."Even so, sentiment on Wall Street seemed to be tangibly improved. "We've had five rate cuts here, and they're going to show results down the road," commented Michael Lyons of Morgan Stanley. "We're buying for the last quarter of the year."Optimism that the Fed will cut rates at least once more to help pep up the sagging US economy also seemed widespread. "The Fed is ready to cut rates again by 50 basis points on 27 June if the business climate and labour markets do not show substantial improvement by then," insisted David Orr, chief economist at First Union.The immediate outlook of the Dow seemed good.

Any time the Dow Jones has gained 2 per cent or more on a day that the inflation figures are released, it always gains at least another 1.5 per cent over the next three trading days.. NTL, the country's largest cable group, yesterday unveiled a three-phase plan to provide high-speed internet services to Britain's 1.2 million small and medium enterprises (SME) from 1 June. NTL, the country's largest cable group, yesterday unveiled a three-phase plan to provide high-speed internet services to Britain's 1.2 million small and medium enterprises (SME) from 1 June. The broadband programme will target nearly 450,000 SMEs situated in NTL's franchise areas with cable modems. The remaining 750,000 enterprises outside its network regions will be marketed digital subscriber lines (DSL) and, from the autumn, wireless broadband services. Stephen Rowles, the managing director of NTL business services, said: "We are focusing strongly on our cable modem product in our franchises.