MW: U.S. stocks strike second session of strong gains
President-elect unveils economic team, directs quick work to develop plan
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks Monday rallied for a second consecutive day after the government agreed to rescue Citigroup Inc. and as President-elect Barack Obama directed his new economic team to get to work.
Naming New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner for Treasury secretary and Harvard economist Lawrence Summers to run the National Economic Council, Obama urged his team to quickly develop recommendations for a recovery plan for "Wall Street and Main Street." Read more.
"This should help market psychology, along with the Fed's intervention with Citigroup," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "The most important piece of the puzzle in the market is confidence."
After surging about 550 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 8,443.39 up 396.97 points, or 4.9%.
All but one of its 30 components posted gains, led by Citigroup , up 57.8%, after losing more than 60% of its market capitalization last week.
"The financials are leading the bounce on the government's backstop for Citi," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
The $326 billion plan to save Citi follows intense weekend negotiations that have the government backing as much as $306 billion of the bank's troubled assets and taking charge of executive bonuses. Read more.
Obama was told of the government's move to save Citigroup, President George W. Bush said Monday.
The S&P 500 Index climbed 51.78 points to 851.81, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 87.67 points to 1,472.02.
Financials, telecommunications and consumer-discretionary shares fronted gains among all 10 of the S&P's industry groups.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 2 billion, with advancers overtaking decliners roughly 9 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 1.1 billion shares traded, and advancers beat decliners roughly 3 to 1.
Crude-oil futures surged more than 9%, gaining the most in nearly three weeks, with crude for January delivery up $4.57 to end at $54.50 a barrel. Read Futures Movers.
For sale
Equities added to their gains in morning trade after the National Association of Realtors reported the resale of single-family residences fell 3.1% in October to 4.98 million, just below the 5 million expected by analysts surveyed by MarketWatch.
A late-hour rally pushed U.S. stocks to huge gains Friday, with the Dow industrials jumping 494 points, the Nasdaq rising 68 points, and the S&P 500 surging 47 points. The surge came on reports that Obama would nominate Geithner for Treasury secretary.
Target Corp. late Friday announced it rejected a proposal by activist investor Bill Ackman to spin off real-estate holdings.
Campbell Soup Co. fell 7.6% after the food maker said its fiscal first-quarter net income declined nearly 4%. Read details.
After the close, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Analog Devices Inc. are scheduled to report earnings.
Overseas, the FTSE 100 closed with gains of nearly 10% as oil producers and mine operators struck double-digit percentage gains. Read more.
Asia stocks weren't as strong, with Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index dropping 1.35%. Tokyo was closed.