10 am: Stocks surge as as oil prices tumble
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks soared in early trading Tuesday as oil prices plunged on reports that the Gulf Coast and its oil facilities have been spared heavy damage from Hurricane Gustav. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 230 points.
Light, sweet crude fell $7.16 to $108.30 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, easing Wall Street's concerns not only about Gustav, but also about inflation's impact on the broader economy.
The market's optimism is also being boosted by news that Korea Development Bank is in talks about taking part in a possible acquisition of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Such a move could allay some of Wall Street's worries about the troubled financial sector.
Investors also awaited a report from a trade group of purchasing executives on the manufacturing sector. The Institute for Supply Management is expected to report that the manufacturing sector saw virtually flat activity in August compared with July, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Financial/IFR. The report is due at 10 a.m. EDT.
In the first hour of trading, the Dow rose 231.48, or 1.98 percent, to 11,775.03. The jump in stocks follows a decline of 171 points in the Dow on Friday.
Broader stock indicators also surged. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.15, or 1.55 percent, to 1,302.98, and the Nasdaq composite index shot up 45.59, or 1.89 percent, to 2,413.11.
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purple51
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09-03-08 2:52 PM
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Then how come gas prices are still around $3.50 a gallon? Last year when crude oil was under $125.00 a barrel gas prices were under $3.00 a gallon. We are being raped by the oil companies.
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