NEW YORK- U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday as investors snapped up tech stocks trading near their cheapest levels in five years, and renewed hopes of a General Motors bailout helped investors shrug off data depicting a worsening global economic downturn.

The Nasdaq rose 4.6 percent, led by Apple and Cisco, which rebounded from Tuesday's big sell-off on concerns about weakening demand.

General Motors was among the biggest advancers in the Dow, rising more than 35 percent to $4.81 after Deutsche Bank said U.S. automakers' prospects of receiving a bailout have improved.

The U.S government's recent move to prop up Citigroup may have helped investors overlook more economic data that continued to show a weakening economy, market participants said.

"For the last two days, it's been made very clear that the Fed and Treasury are opening up pocketbooks," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York.

"As a result, it has become less likely that a major financial institution will run into trouble and it's becoming more likely that the auto sector will receive some assistance."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shot up 247.14 points, or 2.91 percent, to 8,726.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 30.29 points, or 3.53 percent, to 887.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC jumped 67.37 points, or 4.60 percent, to 1,532.10.