New York  - Wall Street continued its three-day rally with the three major indices up about 4 per cent on Thursday led by General Electric and Bank of America shares.

General Electric gained 13 per cent to 9.57 dollars per share after it said a cut in its credit rating was unlikely to impact business, and Bank of America picked up 19 per cent to 5.85 dollars.

"Those banks have been beaten down to almost nothing - same goes for GE - so any kind of good news would allow for a bounce," investment strategist Bruce Bittles told Bloomberg financial news.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3.5 per cent, or 239.66 points, to 7,170.06. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 29.38 points, or 4.1 per cent, to 750.74. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 54.46 points, or 4 per cent, to 1,426.10.

The US currency dropped against the euro to 77.42 euro cents from 77.93 euro cents on Wednesday. The dollar rose against the Japanese currency to 97.72 yen from 97.27 yen. dpa