Dow Rises 152.25 as Oil Falls, Fed Calms; Financials Pace Gains as BofA, Citi Jump; 'Too Soon to Say We're Out of the Woods'
Stocks pushed higher Tuesday, as crude oil sold off for a second straight day and comments from government officials eased investors' worries about financial stocks.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 152.25 points, or 1.4%, higher at 11384.21, helped by sizable gains in all its financial components. Bank of America jumped 9.3%, Citigroup rose more than 6% and J.P. Morgan Chase was up more than 5%.</br></br>In separate speeches, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spoke about plans to resolve the broader economic and financial woes that helped drive major market indexes to bear-market levels and damaged the earnings of many financial institutions.</br></br>James Lockhart, head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said it is unlikely that government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be forced to raise more capital due to an impending change in accounting rules. Fannie shares gained 12%, and Freddie was up 13%.</br></br>Shares of bond insurers and regional banks rose strongly. MBIA shot up 22%, and Ambac Financial Group soared 53%. First Horizon National rose 14% and SunTrust Banks rallied 11%.