The benchmark index has more than doubled from its March 2009 low of 6547.05 in the wake of the global financial crisis. UPDATED

Blue chip stocks on Wall Street rose to a one-year high and other benchmarks rallied the most since July, as investors chased technology and healthcare shares on analysts’ recommendations.

IBM led gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after Barclays upgraded computer hardware companies, saying server and storage demand is picking up.

Intel and Texas Instruments climbed after Deutsche Bank said earnings at chipmakers would beat estimates. WellPoint and Humana rallied at least 3.6% after analysts said shares of health insurers are cheap.

Stocks on Wall Street ended higher for the fourth week, erasing the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 2009 loss, as Bank of America rallied on higher profit estimates and investors bought shares of utilities and phone companies.

Bank of America advanced 5.8%. Dynegy and FirstEnergy led electricity companies to the biggest gains in the S&P 500 Index and AT&T rallied as investors bought companies less reliant on economic growth.

(11am update) Stocks on Wall Street have declined for the first time in three days, echoing earlier falls in Europe as central banks went on a slashing spree.

The main Dow Jones index fell 215.45 points, or 2.5%, to 8376.24 while the broader S&P500 index lost 2.9% to 845.22.

European stocks fell for the first time in three days after the European Central Bank cut rates 0.75% to 2.5%, the biggest interest-rate cut in its 10-year history.

US stocks fell more than 5% on deflation fears and fading hopes for the US auto industry to close below 8000 for the first time since 2003, leading the New Zealand top 50 index down more than 2% at midday.

While Lion Nathan and the Warehouse have bucked the trend so far, rising 2% and 0.3% respectively, for the rest of the NZX 50 it’s all bad news.

ANZ banking group is down 3.7%, Contact Energy down 2.1%, Fletcher Building down 4.4%, Infratil down 3.9%, NZ Oil & Gas down 3.3%, Sky City down 3.6%, and Telecom down 4.3%, all on light volumes.