Dow Industrials Recross 8500; Bonds Tumble
INVESTORS FOUND MORE REASONS to buy stocks, as stronger-than-expected retail sales and weekly employment figures helped send the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 8500 -- and sent Treasury bonds sharply down.</br></br>Investors were emboldened by news that London-based banking group HSBC Holdings is acquiring consumer lender Household International. The takeover boosted confidence in consumer spending and in U.S. stocks.</br></br>"I don't think we are out of the woods, but the market has a better tone," said Robert Harrington, head of listed trading at brokerage firm UBS Warburg. The takeover "gives you confidence that if another company is willing to buy that business, maybe there is some value there, and maybe there is some value in other places that have been depressed."</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.7%, or 143.64 points, to 8542.13, now up 17% since hitting a five-year low Oct. 9. It still is down 15% this year and is 27% off its January 2000 record.</br></br>The 10-year Treasury note plunged 1 23/32, or $17.1875 for each $1,000 invested, as money shifted back toward stocks. The note's yield, which rises when price falls, jumped back above 4% to 4.047%.