U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, with big manufacturers' shares pushing the Dow industrials briefly up 2.1 percent to touch the 10,000 mark, after a rise in business productivity and a drop in jobless claims bolstered investor confidence in the economy.

Strong results from Cisco Systems lifted technology stocks, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbing the most of the three major indexes.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 193.39 points, or 1.97 percent, at 9,995.53, after rising as high as 10,004.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 18.07 points, or 1.73 percent, at 1,064.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 46.73 points, or 2.27 percent, at 2,102.25.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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