Wal-Mart, Goldman boost spirits
NEW YORK - Wall Street shot higher Tuesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrial average nearly 320 points after reassuring news from Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart quelled some of the market’s worst fears about the credit crisis and the economy.
A plunge in the price of oil gave investors further incentive to buy.
The Dow rose 319.54, or 2.5 percent, to 13,307.09.
Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, climbed $1.19 to close at $34.46. Boeing, also a Dow stock, gained 84 cents to $93.70.
A day earlier, a turbulent session pushed the Dow below 13,000 for the first time since August. Tuesday’s advance snapped a four-day losing streak for the blue-chip index.
Broader indexes also rose sharply Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index jumped 41.86, or 2.9 percent, to 1,481.04, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 89.52, or 3.5 percent, to 2,673.65.
Goldman heartened investors with word that it didn’t expect a significant hit from the subprime-mortgage turmoil. Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, speaking at a conference held by Merrill Lynch, said the bank has a short position in the subprime-mortgage market and won’t be taking any significant charges to write off losses.
Goldman’s assessment was the first substantial good news from the financial-services industry about a company’s credit exposure.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, reported third-quarter profit surpassed projections and hinted that consumer spending might be stronger than anticipated this holiday season.
A sharp pullback in energy prices also encouraged Wall Street. Oil prices plummeted after the International Energy Agency reduced its expectations for demand in the fourth quarter and next year and said crude supplies are growing.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $3.45 to $91.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.