Wall Street was also helped by lower oil prices and sheer momentum, as the Standard & Poor's 500 passed a price ceiling that usually triggers selling.

For the most part, however, the news that sent stocks soaring in late afternoon was nearly identical to the news that sent stocks sideways in the morning.

"We were scratching our heads," said Brian Williamson, an equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management, a Mellon subsidiary.

Falling oil prices, which were a downward force for stocks in the morning as energy stocks fell, helped send stocks higher in the afternoon, with retail stocks rising as worries about consumer spending were temporarily forgotten.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 93.89, or 0.89 percent, to 10,640.10. In late afternoon trading, the index was up more than 100 points.

Broader stock indicators were also higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.31, or 0.84 percent, to 1,230.96, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.87, or 0.96 percent, to 2,196.68.

Bond prices rose sharply, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.56 percent from 4.65 percent late yesterday. The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading. Gold prices were higher.

Today's auction of 10-year Treasury notes attracted a record level of indirect bids, which include foreign central banks. The auction came as a relief to investors who were worried after two auctions of shorter-term bond earlier this week failed to attact intense foreign demand.

Crude oil futures fell. A barrel of light crude settled at $57.75, down $1.13, in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Stocks have been crawling sideways for much of the year, and investors are itching for the kind of fourth quarter rallies they've seen the last two years. Perhaps that explains why falling oil prices, which helped push stocks lower in the morning with falling energy stocks, were a catalyst for the afternoon rally, when retailers gained as consumer spending worries were temporarily forgotten.

"We all look for catalysts, but sometimes markets go up because they're ready to go up," said John P. Waterman, chief investment officer at Rittenhouse Asset Management.

Economic news was mixed. The University of Michigan's mid-month report on consumer sentiment for November increased from October's levels, according to news accounts. Michigan's report is released only to subscribers. Analysts said the Michigan report shows shoppers were still spending freely even though sentiment was down.

The Commerce Department said September's trade deficit soared 11.4 percent from August to $66.1 billion, pushed higher by increased oil imports following the Gulf Coast hurricanes and a record deficit with China.

The stream of unemployment filings from the hurricanes continues, although the numbers are no greater than most analysts expected. The number of Americans who lost their jobs in the hurricanes' aftermath rose to 542,000 last week.

Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC, ConocoPhillips and other energy companies saw sharp drops as oil prices fell. But Target Corp. rose after its third-quarter earnings beat expectations and gasoline prices continued to fall. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. rose with it.

Exxon fell $1.05 to $56.45; BP fell $1.30 to $64.30 and Conoco fell $2.20 to $63.39.

Target Corp., the nation's No. 2 discount chain, rose $2.29 to $58.85 after it reported an 18 percent drop in earnings for the third quarter despite higher revenue. Even with the drop, the company's earnings beat analysts' estimates. The company reaffirmed its expectations for the second half of its fiscal year, which ends in January.

Wal Mart rose 84 cents to $49.04 and Costco rose $1.41 to $50.06.

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. tumbled more than 3 percent the day after the world's largest network equipment maker reported its fiscal first-quarter profit slipped as it expensed employee stock options for the first time. The company also predicted weaker-than-expected sales. Cisco fell 60 cents to $17.15.

General Motors shares, already at 13-year lows, fell another 4.6 percent after the world's largest automaker said it would restate its earnings for 2001 because an accounting error led it to overstate its 2001 profit by up to $400 million. GM fell $1.12 to $23.51.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 5.10, or 0.77 percent, to 664.93.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by roughly 9 to 6 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 1.75 billion shares, up from 1.61 billion yesterday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.06 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.30 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.08 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.02 percent.