* Dollar weakness boosts commodity-related shares
* U.S. Treasury extends bailout program to October 2010
* Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates with volume, 3M, Texas Instruments shares)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on
Wednesday, reversing earlier losses, as a weaker dollar fueled
appetite for riskier assets, boosting shares of financial,
technology and natural resource companies.
Stocks rebounded after falling two days in a row, triggered
by concerns about foreign debt and a rise in the dollar as
investors sought a safe haven.
"It's mainly the reversal of the dollar after a couple
sessions of sell-off," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist
at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> ended up 51.08
points, or 0.50 percent, to 10,337.05. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 3.95 points, or 0.36 percent, to
1,095.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> gained 10.74
points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,183.73.
The U.S. dollar index <.DXY>, which has been inversely
correlated with equities since the S&P 500 hit bottom in early
March, dropped 0.4 percent.
On the Nasdaq, Apple Inc <AAPL.O> shares ended up 4.2
percent to $197.80 after Oppenheimer said in a note that the
iPod, iPhone and Mac maker is preparing to launch a tablet
personal computer in late March or April.
The tablet is expected to pitch Apple into the digital book
market popularized by Amazon.com's <AMZN.O> Kindle e-reader.
For details, see [].
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government
would extend its $700 billion financial bailout fund to October
2010 for further efforts to fight home foreclosures and to ease
credit for small businesses in the hopes of spurring job
growth. [].
The extension could help medium and small banks, analysts
said. Capital One <COF.N> gained 2.7 percent to $38.61 and
Zions Bancorp <ZION.O> ended up 1.8 percent at $13.98.
The KBW bank index <.BKX> gained 0.3 percent, while the S&P
financial index <.GSPF> was up 0.5 percent.
In the materials sector, shares of U.S. Steel Corp <X.N>
jumped 5.7 percent to $46.74, while aluminum company Alcoa Inc
<AA.N> gained 1.6 percent to $13.08.
Lifting the Dow was 3M Co <MMM.N>, which ended up 3.4
percent at $79.74 after Citigroup upgraded the manufacturer's
stock. [].
On the downside, Texas Instruments <TXN.N> fell 1.3 percent
to $25.99 a day after it gave a fourth-quarter earnings view
that disappointed some investors who had hoped for signs of
improving demand.
Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.08
billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated
daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 1.92
billion shares traded, also below last year's daily average of
2.28 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 16 to 13, while on the Nasdaq, advancers and
decliners were about even.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
