S&P jumps 5 percent after uptick rule talk

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks jumped on Tuesday, extending strong gains after Rep. Barney Frank said he expects the SEC's uptick rule to be restored in about a month.

Reuters - Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange March 9, 2009. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid ...

The uptick rule, which only allowed a stock to be sold short when the last sale price was higher than the previous price, was repealed by the SEC in 2007 because the agency found that changes in trading strategies made it ineffective.

Frank added that mark-to-market accounting rule must be improved and made more flexible. A congressional panel is set to conduct a hearing on Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) jumped 326.72 points, or 4.99 percent, to 6,873.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) rallied 38.42 points, or 5.68 percent, to 714.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) shot up 77.19 points, or 6.08 percent, to 1,345.83.