Wall Street surges as data points to economic recovery

"Things were never as bad as we thought they were and now we're realizing it," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts. The S&P 500 was up 29.8 points, or 1.54 percent, at 1,962.03 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 85.64 points, or 1.88 percent, at 4,643.59. The S&P and the Nasdaq were on track for their best one-day percentage gain since Feb. 17.