
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street rose in volatile trading Thursday on a Wall Street Journal report that Bank of America Corp. is close to buying struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.
The news was calming to a market buffeted by concerns about fallout from the mortgage and credit crisis. Countrywide's problems have sent stocks falling even in recent days.
"For the last month, rumors are that Countrywide was going into bankruptcy," said Ryan Larson, senior trader at Voyageur Asset Management. "Any deal with Bank of America is good news, and the market is looking for even a hint of good news these days."
Credit concerns were one reason why the market waffled earlier, with investors trying to reconcile comments on the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig.
Stocks jumped after Bernanke said the Fed was ready to lower interest rates again to ward off a recession, but they bobbled up and down before turning narrowly mixed after Hoenig said later that the stock market is "not the center of our attention."
The Dow Jones industrial average initially jumped more than 130 points on Bernanke's comments, retreated again, and then rose again by 125.34, or 0.98 percent, to 12,860.65.
Source: http://biz.yahoo.com
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