Wall Street resumed its fourth-quarter rally today, pushing the Dow Jones industrials to its first close above 12,400 after a series of strong company earnings and a drop in unemployment claims revived investors’ confidence in the economy.

Crude oil futures surged past $70 a barrel for the first time today as Hurricane Katrina headed toward the heart of US oil and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico, shutting down an estimated one million barrels of refining capacity.

Another sharp drop in oil prices helped Wall Street overcome profit-taking and extend its rally to a third straight session today.

THE idea that there are companies generating more wealth than Ireland has been debunked by the United Nations.