NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market staged a huge rally
after investors got the aggressive economic help they wanted from the Federal
Reserve. The Dow Jones industrial average is finishing up more than 200
points.
The gain pushed the Dow to 13,540, its highest level since December 2007, the
start of the Great Recession. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is finishing
up 23 points at 1,460. The Nasdaq composite ends the day up 42 at 3,156.
The Fed says it will spend $40 billion a month to purchase mortgage securities because the economy is
too weak to reduce high unemployment. It has also extended its pledge of
super-low interest rates into 2015.
There were nearly four stocks rising for every one
falling. Volume was high, 4.5 billion shares.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
