Bear Stearns Awakens Bulls
Updated from 4:16 p.m. EDT
Stocks in the U.S. closed higher Wednesday, driven by the end of a two-day strike at
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
and word that one of the world's most prominent investors is considering buying a big stake in
Bear Stearns
(BSC)
.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
gained 99.50 points, or 0.72%, to 13,878.15, its best finish in two months. The
S&P 500
was up 8.21 points, or 0.54%, at 1525.42, and the
Nasdaq Composite
was better by 15.58 points, or 0.58%, at 2699.03.
Bear Stearns soared 7.7% following a report in
The New York Times
that said Warren Buffett was among those contemplating the purchase of up to 20% of Bear Stearns, a Wall Street bank hit hard by the recent troubles in the financial markets.
The article also named
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
,
Wachovia
(WB) - Get Report
and two Chinese firms as potential investors.
The news lifted the broader financial sector and proved more than enough to offset Goldman Sachs' decision to lower its earnings numbers on
Merrill Lynch
(MER)
. The Nasdaq Financial 100 rose 0.9%, and the NYSE Financial Sector Index was up 0.6%. Merrill, though, lost 0.5%.
Stock indices were already rallying, even before the Bear Stearns development, after a tentative labor deal ended a two-day strike by
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
production workers.
The contract puts the responsibility for retirees' health care into the United Auto Workers union's hands, while certain jobs were guaranteed by the automaker. GM, a component of the Dow, ended 9.4% higher at $37.64.
Rival
Ford
(F) - Get Report
gained 6.5%, and parts makers such as
Lear
(LEA) - Get Report
,
Johnson Controls
(JCI) - Get Report
and
Visteon
(VC) - Get Report
finished stronger by between 2% and 6%.
"While everyone knew GM and the UAW were headed to an agreement, traders were very heartened by the news," said Larry Wachtel, senior market analyst with Wachovia Securities. "The Bear Stearns news jolted the financial sector late in the day. That one-two punch really pushed this market higher. It was encouraging, even as traders ignored souring economic data today."
On the economic front, durable-goods orders for August were weaker than expected, falling 4.9%. Excluding transportation, orders declined 1.8%. Orders advanced 5.9% in July.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, said that traders ignored the poor durable-goods number because it will have little influence on the
Federal Reserve's
rate policy.
"These data capture little, if any, of the impact of the market turmoil," said Shepherdson. "The September and October numbers will be key inputs for the Fed's Dec. 11 meeting."
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser commented late Tuesday about economic activity in the U.S., stating that "last week's action to lower the fed funds rate target was appropriate."
Plosser, who usually delivers hawkish commentary, added that he does not take moderating inflationary data as a sign that inflation is no longer a risk, although he does find it encouraging.
Breadth was positive, and on the
New York Stock Exchange
3.17 billion shares changed hands, as advancers topped decliners by a 2-to-1 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.01 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers nearly 3 to 2.
One of the day's laggards was
SLM
(SLM) - Get Report
, better known as Sallie Mae, who said a buyout group led by J.C. Flowers, Bank of America and
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
doesn't expect to complete the acquisition of the company under the existing terms of the agreement.
Sallie Mae said it would "pursue all remedies available to it to the fullest extent permitted by law." Shares fell 2.7% to $45.01.
Aside from Goldman's move on Merrill, several other analysts offered coverage changes, including JPMorgan, which downgraded office supply retailer
Staples
(SPLS)
to underweight from neutral. The firm raised
Office Depot
(ODP) - Get Report
to overweight from neutral. Staples eased 0.1% to $21.45, while Office Depot jumped 5.4% to close at $20.25.
The broker also raised its rating for
CVS
(CVS) - Get Report
to overweight from neutral, but cut
Walgreen
(WAG)
to neutral from overweight. CVS rose 0.8% to $39.19, and Walgreen gained 1.8% at $47.71.
Citigroup initiated coverage of several handset companies. The firm started coverage of
Palm
(PALM)
as a sell,
Motorola
(MOT)
as a hold and
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
as a buy. Separately, Lehman raised its price target on RIM.
Palm shed 2.2% to $15.43, while Motorola finished higher by 0.5% at $18.72. RIM advanced 2.3% to $99.
Away from stocks, oil pushed back above the $80-a-barrel level despite a bearish inventory report from the Energy Department. The front-month November contract added 77 cents to close at $80.30 a barrel.
The Energy Department's weekly inventory report showed that crude stocks unexpectedly rose by 1.8 million barrels last week. Gasoline stocks rose by 600,000 barrels, and distillates increased by 1.6 million barrels.
Treasury prices crept higher, with the 10-year note up 3/32 in price, yielding 4.62%. The 30-year bond added 6/32, yielding 4.89%. The dollar was mixed against other major world currencies.
Overseas indices were mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 tacked on 0.2% overnight, London's FTSE 100 added 0.6%, and Germany's Xetra Dax was up 0.5%.