NEW YORK, Aug. 31 U.S. stock market investors sent indexes higher and then broke for the holiday weekend Friday after the Fed and the White House helped settle jittery nerves.
Stocks closed on an upward trend after Fed chief Ben Bernanke and U.S. President George Bush kindled hopes of lower interest rates and aid for troubled homeowners.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 119.01 points, or 0.90 percent, to 13,357.74. The Nasdaq composite advanced 31.06 points, or 1,21 percent, to 2,596.36, and the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 16.35 points, or 1.12 percent, to 1,473.99.
The volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 1.36 billion shares traded with 2,853 stocks rising and 474 declining.
Crude oil rose 68 cents to $74.04 amid the rally in stocks and as traders kept a wary eye on the development of new tropical-weather systems in the Atlantic. It was crude's strongest closing in a month. Oil is up 21 percent on the year.
Bonds were mixed. The benchmark 10-year note fell 4/32, or $1.25 for every $1,000 invested, yielding 4.529 percent Friday.
The dollar weakened. The dollar was at 115.78 yen from 115.83 yen late Thursday. The euro traded at $1.3623 from $1.3621 late Thursday.
All U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday for Labor Day.
Bernanke said that the central bank was ready to take additional action as needed to aid the economy and apparently convinced most investors there will be a rate cut next month.
The Fed chairman said that tight credit markets could harm the consumer and the economy, and that the Fed will keep close watch on economic data to assess the best course of action.
Bush, meanwhile, promised that he would work to assist homeowners now struggling to keep up with their monthly mortgage payments and urged several changes to help ease the situation.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
