US Stocks: S&P Futures Briefly Turn Down After Jobless Data

New York: S&P 500 stock index futures briefly turned lower but still pointed to a slightly higher opening on Thursday after data showing an unexpectedly large rise in the number of workers applying for jobless benefits.

S&P 500 futures were up 1.50 points, above fair value, a formula to evaluate pricing taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 47 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 3.50 points.

US Stocks: Wall St Surges On Hopes Of Easing Credit Crunch

New York: U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, capping a tumultuous week, on optimism that giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a bigger role in the mortgage market will ease a credit crunch that claimed Bear Stearns as its biggest victim.

Stocks closed out their best week in nearly two months on the strength of financial shares, which bore the brunt of investors' wrath since the credit crisis unfolded last summer. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 gained 2.4 per cent for the day and rose 3.2 per cent for the week.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac delivered eye-popping gains for a third session, each rising more than 50 per cent since Monday. Meanwhile, major banks such as Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup rose between 8 per cent and 10 per cent each on Thursday, while the Dow Jones index of home building stocks soared 8.3 per cent.

Industrial heavyweight General Electric helped lead the Dow higher with a 5.3 per cent gain to $37.49 after Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock as a safe bet in a slowing economy.

A second day of plunging oil and gold prices helped ease fears of inflation getting out of control, spurring gains across the board. Energy-sensitive sectors such as airlines and consumer discretionary companies gained about 3 per cent.

Financial "stocks are moving inversely to what's been going on in the commodities markets with commodities prices falling in the last couple of days," said Matt Kaufler, portfolio manager and equity analyst at Clover Capital Management, in Rochester, New York.

"And the overarching assumption to all of this being that the worst of it is likely behind us."

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 261.66 points, or 2.16 per cent, to 12,361.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 31.09 points, or 2.39 per cent, to 1,329.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 48.15 points, or 2.18 per cent, to 2,258.11.

Fannie Mae rose 11.7 per cent to $34.30, while Freddie Mac climbed 9 per cent to $32.58 after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded them, saying recent government actions will help the mortgage giants in stabilizing the ailing housing market.

Crude oil fell 70 cents to $101.84 a barrel, after earlier sliding to a session low below $99 a barrel. That pullback in oil prices alleviated worries about the effect of high energy costs on consumers and businesses.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, rose 4.8 per cent to $53.23.

Stocks had rallied early in the day after a survey from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank showed factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region shrinking for the fourth consecutive month in March, but by slightly less than the median forecast.

Helping the Nasdaq were shares of Intel Corp, up 3.1 per cent to $21.75 after the chip maker raised its quarterly dividend by 10 per cent, while Apple Inc rose 2.8 per cent to $133.27.

Shares of Nike Inc jumped 8.8 per cent to $67.27 after the company posted a third-quarter profit that handily beat estimates.

Markets will be closed for Good Friday. The U.S. bond market closed early on Thursday.

Trading was extremely heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 2.77 billion shares changing hands, well above last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.9 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 2.68 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by about 3 to 1 and by about 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.

US Stocks: Stocks Sink On Commodities Slide, Merrill Nerves

New York: U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as plunging gold and oil prices drove energy and mining shares lower, and speculation that Merrill Lynch & Co may need to take more write-downs deflated growing optimism that the credit crisis was abating.

The drop of more than 2 per cent in all three major stock indexes came a day after the S&P 500 rang up its biggest one-day jump in more than five years following stronger-than- expected earnings from investment banks and the Federal Reserve's deep cut in official interest rates.

Gold prices slid in their biggest one-day drop in nearly two years and oil posted its worst slide in seven months, weighed down by persistent worries about the U.S. economy's health. The Standard & Poor's index of materials stocks dropped 6.3 per cent.

A lawsuit filed by Merrill Lynch against a bond insurer fanned speculation the big broker and investment bank may not have enough protection against losses from its exposure to securities at the heart of the credit crisis. That may lead to more write-downs.

"Commodities are also getting tanked here. That's a positive for the market, but it also hurts energy and other stocks," said Todd Leone, head of listed trading at Cowen & Co. in New York. "We had a great rally yesterday and probably came too far. There are rumors about Merrill. All brokerage stocks are down."

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 293.00 points, or 2.36 per cent, to 12,099.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 32.32 points, or 2.43 per cent, to 1,298.42. The NASDAQ Composite Index shed 58.30 points, or 2.57 per cent, to 2,209.96.

Shares of Merrill Lynch fell 11.1 per cent to $41.45, a drop that Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading, attributed to rumors about further write-downs.

"Either way something stinks over there and the way the market has been lately ... people shoot first and ask questions later. Nothing has been verified by anybody," Saluzzi said.

FEAR FACTOR

Energy shares were among the biggest drags on the market as the price of oil slid nearly $5 a barrel after worries about the economy overshadowed bullish weekly data.

An index of energy shares fell 5.4 per cent -- its biggest one-day percentage drop since October.

Exxon Mobil shares were the S&P's biggest laggard, falling 4.6 per cent to $84.43, while Conoco Phillips slid 6 per cent to $73.61 and Chevron fell 4.9 per cent to $81.89.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange Volatility Index -- Wall Street's favorite fear gauge -- jumped 15.7 per cent a day after its fourth-biggest daily drop in 14 years.

Shares of Alcoa Inc fell 7.7 per cent to $35.62 and Caterpillar Inc dropped 4.1 per cent to $73.73.

VISA'S SPARKLING DEBUT

A bright spot, though, was provided by the housing sector. Shares of Fannie Mae climbed 8.8 per cent to $30.71, while Freddie Mac shot up 14.9 per cent to $29.90 after they won approval to pump $200 billion into the distressed U.S. housing market.

Shares of Visa Inc soared as much as 38 per cent in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, with the rally driven by expected growth in global credit card usage. That handed a much needed payday to the beleaguered U.S. banks among Visa's stakeholders.

Visa ended NYSE trading at $56.50, up 28.4 per cent, or $12.50 from its initial public offering price of $44.00 a share. The IPO, which was priced on Tuesday night after Wall Street's huge rally, raised a record $17.9 billion.

Trading was heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.97 billion shares changing hands, above last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on NASDAQ, about 2.33 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancers by a ratio of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ.