After a generally down day in Asia but good stock showings in Europe, US stocks bounced back from yesterday's retreats to close in the black for the fifth day in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrials gained 46 points, to end at 10,387; the S&P 500 was up 6, to 1098; the NASDAQ Composite tacked on 20, to 2,229; the Russell 2000 small cap index rallied 5, to 634; and the Value Line Arithmetic index, the sole equally weighted benchmark, ended the session up 16 points, at 2,362.  Investors were encouraged by Portugal's borrowing $1.3 billion today, easing fears about European sovereign debt. That helped overcome yet more news that the US economy is growing at a slower pace than last winter.  

By sector, transportation stocks led the way, with good results from almost all other groups. Only utilities ended the day in the red.

In corporate news, BP plc (BP) published the results of an internal investigation into the broken Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.  While the oil giant found that other companies shared the blame for the rupture that spilled five million barrels of oil, it did not seem to bend over backwards to avoid its own responsibility.  Still, the market found the report encouraging and bid up BP shares around 3%.  Other gainers included Apple (AAPL) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), each advancing around 2%.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Free Analyst Report) dropped over 2% as it sued its former CEO, who has just taken a senior job at Oracle (ORCL). Visa (V) was down 4%, and Intel (INTC - Free Analyst Report) gave up 1.5%.

The Federal Reserve released its "Beige Book" of regional economic statistics this afternoon, and the news was not good.  Five regions, including New York and Chicago, reported weaker conditions than in the previous edition in late July, compared with two in that report.  Moreover, consumer credit declined by more than expected.  And a Reuters survey found that the economists had lowered their expectations for the U.S. economy yet again, to growth at about a 1.8% rate in the third quarter and 2.1% for the December period.  All told, it now seems likely that the Fed will maintain its "accommodative stance" until at least the middle of 2011.

Commodities rose, on balance, despite a decline in most grains. Oil increased .6%, to $74.67 a barrel, while gold was down two dollars, to $1257.50 an ounce.

Bonds eased, lifting rates 4 to 5 basis points, to 2.65% for the 10-year Treasury note and 3.72% for the 30-year bond.

Markets will probably be muted tomorrow and Friday as many market participants celebrate Rosh Hashanah.