Wall Street rallied Monday on President-elect Barack Obama's plan to launch the largest infrastructure-spending package since the 1950s which stimulated the equity market.
Obama announced over the weekend that he is focusing on making the biggest investment in the nation's infrastructure since President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the interstate highway system a half-century ago. Investors expected that the plan could bolster the nation's economy by creating thousands of jobs. The plan pushed commodity stocks higher on a broad range.
Investors also felt alleviated that the US government is closer to legislation that would provide billions of US dollars to America's three biggest automakers within a week. Congress is expected to pass a 15 billion US dollars bailout for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler as soon as Tuesday.
In corporate news, MetLife, the biggest US life insurer said it has more than enough capital and liquidity.
McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, also boosted market sentiment, after reporting global sales rose 7.7 percent in November.
Energy stocks jumped Monday as crude futures rebounded from four-year lows as OPEC floated the possibility of a "severe" production cut and several countries announced new measures to boost their economies.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery gained 2.90 dollars to settle at 43.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones average rose 298.76, or 3.46 percent, to 8,934.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 33.63, or 3.84 percent, to 909.70 while the Nasdaq composite index jumped 62.43, or 4.14 percent, to 1,571.74.
Overseas, the FTSE 100 closed at 4,300.06 points in London, up 250.69 or 6.19 percent. The German DAX index ended at 4,715.88 points, up 334.41 or 7.63 percent while in Paris the CAC-40 index closed at 3,247.48 points, up 259.47 or 8.68 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2008)
