Good News Rallies Markets

Sunny economic stats and hope for a rate cut give stocks a boost
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2007 3:32 PM CST
Good News Rallies Markets
The Intel logo is seen outside their Robert N. Noyce building in Santa Clara, Calif. in this July 16, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)   (Associated Press)

Stocks took off today in response to cheerful economic data and rising hopes for a Dec. 11 rate cut from the Fed. Government reports showed an increase in productivity and an unexpected jump in hiring, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow was up 196.23 to 13,444.96, the Nasdaq up 46.53 to 2,666.36, and the S&P up 22.22 to 1,485.01.

"We've really got to revisit how fast the economy has been slowing down," one analyst said. AIG stocks leaped after the company reassured investors about its ability to weather the credit crisis, and Intel and Microsoft also helped to push the rally. Techs are "an area  investors view as less risky and less involved in the credit crisis," one strategist said. (More stock market stories.)

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