The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 288.36 points yesterday, barely 24 hours after suffering its second largest fall ever of 512.64 points Monday due to panic sales by investors amidst fears of Russia going bust.

However, a debate continued to rage whether the markets have seen the last of the current slide or Tuesday's rally was simply another technical correction.

Market analysts preferred to wait for a couple of days more before predicting its future course saying the upswing may have come on absence of active sellers on Wall Street.

The US rally sparked hectic buying at major exchanges in Brazil, Argentina and Canada though in earlier trade equity values slid around Europe to close with widespread losses.

However, a cause for concern on the Wall Street was the lack of bullishness among those who perceived the free-fall as very good buyingopportunity at lower levels.

The Dow's 3.8 per cent surge yesterday was second to the 337.17 point burst on October 28 last. Incidentally that too happened on a Tuesday and followed a "Black Monday" which saw the record 554.26 point slump.

Analysts also ascribed the jump to the stocy buyback programmes of some blue-chip corporations following weakening of prices.

The Dow, at 7,827.43 last night, was more than 1000 points down from its peak of 9337.97 achieved in July and thus has a long way to go.

"The degree of decline has been so extraordinary that sellers have just exhausted themselves," an analyst said.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, too made substantial gains, closing 76.3 points up at 1575.57 after its worst loss of 143 points on Monday.

However, the gain in the stocks was accompanied by a retreat in US Treasuries, adds Reuter. The benchmark 30-year bond, which has served as the equivalent of a bomb shelter in recent sessions, fell more than a full point, driving the yield back up to 5.35 percent.

Early in the session, a chorus of Wall Street voices counselled buying on the lows created by the six-week slide in US stocks, advice investors finally appeared to heed.

Strategists at Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan Securities and Legg Mason Wood Walker recommended clients increase their exposure to stocks and take advantage of the markdown in share prices.