Exxon Gives Markets a Boost

Hopes for Fed rate cut, O'Neal ouster buoy stocks
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 29, 2007 3:47 PM CDT
Exxon Gives Markets a Boost
Stanley O'Neal, Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co., is seen in New York in this Nov. 1, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, file)   (Associated Press)

Stocks rose again today as Exxon Mobil rode record crude prices to its greatest gains in 3 weeks, Bloomberg reports. The Dow was up 63.56 to 13,870.26, the Nasdaq 13.25 to 2,817.44, and the S&P 500 5.70 to 1,540.98. Continuing hopes of a Fed rate cut and news of Merrill Lynch's ouster of Stan O'Neal also drove the rally, the Journal reports.

Verizon reached a 5-year high on unexpectedly positive earnings news. The S&P 500 is riding a wave of estimate-beating quarterly reports, and the index's energy components are up 30% this year. "As long as oil is going to be an important part of our global energy needs, these companies are going to be very important,'' says one strategist. (More stock market stories.)

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