New York  - The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly topped 10,000 points on Wednesday, passing the symbolic mark for the first time since October 7, 2008.

Investors pushed the blue-chip Dow above 10,000 points in afternoon trading in New York, more than one year after a debilitating financial crisis took Wall Street and the world economy by storm. The index quickly dipped back below 10,000, but was still trading up more than 1 per cent on the day.

Major US stock indices have recovered more than 50 per cent of their losses since hitting a 12-year-low in March. The buoyant trading has been linked to signs that the US has pulled out of its worst recession in seven decades. dpa