Dow crosses 12,000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed 12,000 Wednesday for the first time in 2 years before giving backsome of that gain by the close.

The averagefinished down8.25 points at 11,985.44, after climbing to 12,013 earlier in the day. That was its highest level during the day since June 20, 2008.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.45 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,296.63. The Nasdaq composite index gained 20.25, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,739.50.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index soared 206.1 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 13,465.8.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.23 of a cent to 100.47 cents US.

The bump up in the Dow came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama's call for an overhaul of business taxes in his state of the union address.

Obama said he wanted to close corporate tax loopholes and use the additional revenue to lower corporate tax rates for the first time in 25 years.

"If he can take steps to simplify the tax codes, be it for individuals or corporations, I think it would be a lot easier to do business," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.