How the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes fared Thursday

The stock market surged again on Thursday, putting the Dow Jones industrial average on track for its best week since 2011.

Investors plowed money back into stocks following a slump the week before, encouraged by a 4 percent jump in the price of crude oil and Pfizer's $16 billion deal to buy the drugmaker Hospira.

On Thursday:

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 211.86 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,884.88.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 21.01 points, or 1 percent, to 2,062.52.

The Nasdaq rose 48.39 points, or 1 percent, to 4,765.10.

For the week:

The S&P 500 index is up 67.53 points, or 3.4 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 129.86 points, or 2.8 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is up 61.81 points, or 0.4 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 3.62 points, or 0.2 percent.