NEW YORK, Oct 18: A strong rally that lifted Wall Street from last week’s multiyear lows has investors pondering whether the worst is now over for the stock market battered by its worst bear market in decades.

Some analysts say the savage sell offs over the past weeks have effectively established a bottom for the stock indexes, although others say a rebound will be hard to maintain with confidence weak and recession likely.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.74 per cent in the week to Friday to end at 8,852.22, coming back from its worst week in history that produced a dizzying 18 per cent drop.

The broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 4.60 per cent to 940.55 after its 18.2 per cent slide in the prior week.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite posted a 3.74 per cent weekly gain to 1,711.29.Bob Dickey, analyst at RBC Dain Rauscher, said the roller-coaster action in recent sessions has in fact established a floor for the market.

The market’s bounce off its lows was the most convincing bottoming pattern we have seen during the past six months and has increased our bullish opinion, Dickey said in a note to clients.

Joachim Fels at Morgan Stanley said the freezing of credit around the world has choked off economic growth and that it will take time to recover even with massive amounts of stimulus from government bailouts.

While decisive fiscal, monetary and regulatory action is likely to prevent a 1930-style depression, we think that a recession in the industrialized world is still in the cards, Fels said.—AFP