Nasdaq Up Big Despite Facebook (FB) Blunder

The Nasdaq Composite Index totally botched the Facebook IPO. Even the exchange’s chief executive said so, saying he was “embarrassed” that technical glitches by the Nasdaq forced the social network to delay its public trading debut by an hour.

But the fallout from Friday’s ill-fated Facebook IPO hasn’t prevented the index from having one of its finest trading days this year. The Nasdaq is up more than 2.4% in late-day trading, the biggest one-day improvement for the tech-heavy exchange in nearly a month.

Biotech stock BioSante Pharmaceuticals (BPAX) made the biggest push among Nasdaq stocks, jumping 49% today. Other, more familiar Nasdaq stocks that made big moves today were Sears (SHLD), up 6.5%; Groupon (GRPN), with close to an 8% jump; and China-based tech stock Baidu (BIDU), which gained 5.5%.

While the Nasdaq was the day’s biggest gainer among major U.S. exchanges, it wasn’t alone. The S&P 500 gained 1.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1%. All three indexes broke week-long losing streaks.

Many analysts were attributing the rally to China’s weekend vow to boost consumption instead of curbing inflation.

For the Nasdaq, at least, today’s rally couldn’t have come at a better time.