A woman browses job openings at a job fair in Los Angeles
Jobless claims have registered below the key 400,000 mark -- a level historically associated with an improving labor market – for twelve consecutive weeks. Reuters

The U.S. stock market extended its rally on Wednesday as fears of a double-dip recession and global financial crisis continue to fade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 158.59 points, or 1.39 percent, to trade at 11,574.89 at 1:58 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 rose 19.22 points, or 1.61 percent, to trade at 1,214.76. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.38 percent.

The current week-long U.S. equities rally was largely sparked by a series of positive headlines out of Europe. On Wednesday, two top Eurozone officials, Olli Rehn and Jose Barroso, publicly urged Eurozone policymakers to step up their efforts to bail out European banks and Greece.

These headlines seem to have somewhat calmed investor fears of a European and global financial meltdown caused by the European sovereign debt crisis.

Fears of an economic double-dip recession, the other factor that drove stocks down in August and September, have also receded.

U.S. [economic] numbers are clearly showing we're not going into another recession, Larry Kantor, managing director at Barclays Capital, told CNBC TV.

Kantor thinks the U.S. economy is not as vulnerable as some believe it to be.

Everybody is super cautious. Corporations have lots of cash on the balance sheets. Household are saving more. Investors are cautious. You're not really set up for a crash, he said.

However, he does not believe Eurozone policymakers have moved that much closer to solving the European debt crisis. So he still expects market volatility going forward.

U.S.