New York - US markets got a slight boost from government plans announced Tuesday to pump an additional 800 billion dollars into the struggling economy and unfreeze credit for consumers and small businesses.

The increases continued a three-day rally on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.06 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8,479.47. The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 5.58, or 0.7 per cent, to 857.39, while the technology heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 7.29 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,464.73.

This second stimulus follows the 700-billion-dollar rescue package already approved by Congress. Under one of the two new programmes, the Fed will use 600 billion dollars to buy mortgage-backed securities to reduce the cost of home mortgages.

The other programme, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will create a lending facility worth 200 billion dollars to holders of securities backed by consumer debt - credit card, student and auto loans. This will essentially make it easier for consumers to borrow money.

The plan outweighed figures released Tuesday that showed the economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the third quarter.

The US dollar traded at 76.54 euro cents and 95.22 Japanese yen. dpa