Stocks Rise After Countrywide News
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Stocks rose sharply today, led by strong gains among the blue chips and mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., which said it had lined up added financing.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose by more than 130 points on strong advances by General Motors Corp. and McDonald’s Corp., which hit an all-time high. Financial stocks like Countrywide also jumped, while bond prices fell.
Investors, who have been nervous about the sinking housing and credit markets damaging the economy, were relieved to hear that Countrywide secured $12 billion in credit. The additional financing alleviated concerns the nation’s largest mortgage lender might collapse because of spiking defaults.
In late afternoon trading, the Dow rose 133.23, or 1.00 percent, to 13,424.88.
Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 12.39, or 0.84 percent, to 1,483.95, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 8.99, or 0.35 percent, to 2,601.06.
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