Wall Street Rallies On Treasury Secretary Nomination News

November 21, 2008 5:18 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. markets traded relatively flat most of the day until news broke that President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate New York Fed President Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Markets surged on the news sending the Dow back above 8,000.

The move came on heavy volume with 2.4 billion shares trading hands on the New York Stock Exchange, nearly a billion more than the daily average for the month.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was trading with a small loss heading into the final hour of trading, but surged on the Treasury news to finish at 8,046, up 494 points or 6.5 percent.

28 of 30 Dow components ended Friday with a gain. Citigroup and JP Morgan were the two laggards, down 22.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Shares of JP Morgan are now at their lowest levels since 2002.

The S&P 500 jumped 48 points in the last hour to finish with a 6.3 percent gain. The energy sector provided the most strength, adding 11.7 percent on the session.

Tech joined the rally as well with the Nasdaq Composite adding 68 points or 5.2 percent. The semiconductor stocks were strong for a second consecutive day as the sector rose 5 percent on Friday.

Crude slipped to a 3-year low midway through the session, but rallied 2 percent, settling at $50.40 a barrel.

In corporate news, Bank of New York Mellon said it will cut its workforce by 4 percent, roughly 1,800 jobs. HJ Heinz announced better than expected quarterly earnings and reaffirmed its outlook.

Wal-Mart announced CEO Lee Scott will retire in February 2009; Mike Duke has been named as Scott's successor. Duke currently serves as Wal-Mart's vice chairman of international operations.

Next week will kick-off with the release of existing home sales for the month of October.