Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 13, 2008. U.S. stocks surged on Thursday after hitting 5-1/2-year lows in a roller-coaster session as investors shrugged off dismal economic news to snap up beaten down shares and oil prices rose sharply after falling below $55 a barrel.

New York, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street rallied Thursday as investors hunt bargain after three straight days of decline.

Standard & Poor's index jumped 6 percent in the final hour, as investors snapped up the cheapest energy shares on record and real-estate companies gained after CB Richard Ellis Inc. raised cash in a share sale.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. led gains in all 40 energy producers in the S&P 500 and helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebound from a 317-point drop.

Declines in midday trading Thursday pushed the S&P 500 to 35 percent below its average for the past 200 days, only the second time that's happened since the Great Depression in 1930s. The last time was a day before the index rose 12 percent on Oct. 13, the biggest rally since 1939.

Shares of Intel closed higher after falling as much as 6.7 percent in early trading as the company slashed its fourth-quarter sales forecast, which rekindled concerns that the financial crisis is cutting global technology spending.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits has jumped to a level not seen since just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Dow Jones average rose 552.59, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25,after falling as low as 7,965.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 58.99, or 6.92 percent, to 911.29. The Nasdaq composite index rose 97.49, or 6.50 percent, to 1,596.70.