(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)

US stocks extended finished with impressive gains as concerns over the fate of Bank of America eased, sending financial stocks higher. A rally in technology stocks also buoyed investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 106.41 points or 1.34% to finish at 8,063.07. The S&P 500 gained 13.62 points or 1.64% to 845.85. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 31.19 points or 2.06% to 1,546.24.

Financial stocks rose after a Treasury official said that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will unveil a bank rescue plan in a speech on Feb. 9. Investors are hoping that the bank plan will include a change in accounting rules that would stem bank write-downs and spur lending. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) rallied $4.88 or 5.55% to $92.85.Morgan Stanley leaped $1.18 or $5.36% to $23.19.American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) rose 67 cents or 4.10% to $17.03. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), which fell to 25 year low in intraday session, also staged a late recovery and finished at $4.84, up 14 cents or 2.98%.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) soared $4.61 or 9.38% to $53.74. The company reported that fiscal first-quarter net income rose 35% to $574 million or 74 cents from $424 million, or 55 cents a share.  Adjusted net income came at $599 million or 78 cents per class A common share, which exceeded the Wall Street estimates of 67 cents a share. Total operating revenue surged 17% to $1.7 billion.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) rallied $3.37 or 18.70% to $21.39. Early on Thursday, the health insurer announced that it swung to a fourth quarter loss of $209 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with profit of $263 million, or 93 cents a share in the same quarter, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 49 cents a share. Premium revenue climbed 6% to $4.04 billion from $3.8 billion. The lowered its FY09 earnings guidance to a range of $3.95 to $4.25 a share from operations.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(NYSE: WMT) surged $2.14 or 4.61% to $48.56 after the retail giant reported that that it's same store sales rose 1.5%, exceeding the consensus estimates of 1.1%.

Rival Target Corp's (NYSE: TGT) rose 95 cent or 3.03% to $32.39 after it said that same store fell 3.3% in January.

Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) said that January same store sales slipped 4.5%. Analysts on an average had projected same sore sales to drop 6.3%. Macy gained 43 cents or 5.17% to end at $8.75.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) was the biggest gainer among Dow components. Shares of the automaker jumped 14 cents or 5.15% to $2.86.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) advanced $1.01 or 3.30% to $31.61.

Among energy stocks, both Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) increased over 2%.

Among Nasdaq components, iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) gained $2.91 or 3.11% to $96.46.

Cisco Systems Inc.