New York  - US stocks finished their biggest two-day rally since New Year's on Wednesday, inching upwards as JPMorgan Chase & Co joined Citigroup with an optimistic report on profits and sparked further speculation that the financial crisis may be waning.

JPMorgan Chase shares climbed 4.6 per cent after CEO James Dimon said that his bank, too, was profitable in January and February, the Wall Street Journal reported.

On Tuesday, Citigroup's chief executive Vikram Pandit said in an internal memo that the company was profitable in the first two months of 2009 after five straight quarters of losses. Citigroup gained another 6.2 per cent in Wednesday's trading after rising 38 per cent on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 Financials Index rallied 2.4 per cent to extend its advance this week to 21 per cent, Bloomberg financial news service reported.

The upbeat news swept world markets, with European gains in France's CAC 40, Germany's DAX and Spain's IBEX. Japan's Nikkei rallied 4.55 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.02 per cent. Markets in Brazil and Mexico also gained.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6 per cent, or 3.91 points, to 6,930.40, after Tuesday's 5.8-per-cent surge. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.76 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 721.36, after Tuesday's 6.37-per-cent jump. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.36 points, or 0.98 per cent, to
1,371.64, after its 7.07-per-cent rally on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, stocks on the major three US indices have shed 13 to 21 per cent of their value since year's begin on top of drastic losses in 2008.

The US currency dropped against the euro to 77.93 euro cents from 78.86 euro cents on Tuesday. The dollar slipped against the Japanese currency to 97.27 yen from 98.59 yen on Tuesday. dpa