Following Monday's decline to 12-year lows, markets have staged an impressive rally, whose longevity will be closely watched for any signs of the formation of a market bottom. Today's overseas markets were promising, as they turned in sharp gains, with advances in the Nikkei of 5.2%, the Hang Seng 4.4%, the FTSE 1.8%, the CAC 1.8% and the Dax 1.3%. After yesterday's report that China's industrial production sank to record lows, the Shanghai Composite bucked the positive trends elsewhere, ignoring its Premier's comments regarding the possibility of additional stimulus funds, and fell 0.2%. Premarket futures in the US point to follow-through strength today in advance of a key report on consumer confidence and the G-20 and OPEC meetings this weekend.

Bank of America's (NYSE:BAC) CEO Ken Lewis added to the comments made by Citigroup's (NYSE:C) Pandit and JP Morgan's (NYSE:JPM) Dimon, refuting concerns of ticking time bombs on their balance sheets necessitating nationalization, averring the firm was profitable in the first two months of the year, should earn nearly $50 billion pretax and pre-provisions in 2009, and should survive the recession without heading back to the government trough. Financial sector shares rose 9.0%, with shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) up 18.7%, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) up 17.4%, and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) up 13.7%. All ten S&P sectors rallied during the session with gains of 5.1% in health care, following heightened deal activity in the group, 4.3% in industrials, and 3.9% in consumer services and telecommunications stocks. On the DJIA, only a 0.6% decline in Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares sullied the component gains. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) shares jumped 9.6% on the success of its promising pancreatic cancer drug. General Motors (NYSE:GM) shares rallied 17.2% after the firm noted that recent cost-saving measures would permit the company to survive through March without the $2 billion in emergency funds previously sought. General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares gained 12.7% after S&P, as widely anticipated, lowered the firm's rating from AAA, as the cut of only one notch was less than feared with positive mention made that, "We believe that GE's cash generation capabilities remain fundamentally strong- - even in the face of enormous global economic headwinds." Shares of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) also took a ratings downgrade in stride Thursday, gaining 2.4%, despite Fitch's downgrade from AAA to AA+, which resulted from concerns over volatility from its equity investments and holdings of derivative contracts tied to equity and credit markets, as well as the importance of Buffett on the firm's prospects.