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Dow Soars 66 After Greenspan ReportBy MICHAEL J. MARTINEZ NEW YORK (AP) -- A bullish economic report from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sent stocks quickly soaring Wednesday. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 66.23, or 0.6 percent, to 10,680.08. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 6.12, or 0.5 percent, at 1,151.66, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.13, or 0.2 percent, to 2,080.46. Greenspan, in testimony before Congress, remained optimistic that unemployment would go down, and revised an earlier gross domestic product figure upward. He reiterated the Fed's current stance that it could remain patient before eventually raising interest rates. The markets responded immediately after spending the morning in negative territory. Investors were also digesting a surprise $54 billion bid by cable company Comcast Corp. for The Walt Disney Co. The entertainment giant's embattled chief executive, Michael Eisner, spurned a private offer from the cable company, which has now taken its bid public in hopes of gaining shareholder support. The Disney takeover bid, in which Comcast is offering 0.78 shares of its stock for every share of Disney, is seen by many investors and analysts as another sign of broad economic recovery. "It's nice to see mergers and takeovers happening again," said Todd Leone, managing director of equity trading at SG Cowen Securities. "There's money out there being put to work, and that's a good thing." Comcast, which also beat earnings estimates by 14 cents per share, dropped $2.79 to $31.14. Disney jumped $3.55, or 15 percent, to $27.63. In earnings news, insurer American International Group Inc. posted a profit of $1.03 per share for the fourth quarter after suffering a loss the year before. AIG shed $1.00 to $72.50. Prudential Financial Inc., which announced profits late Tuesday that beat estimates by 3 cents, gained $1.51 to $46.51. Online job service Monster Worldwide Inc. slipped 95 cents to $24.68 after posting earnings that beat Wall Street expectations by 1 cent. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3-to-2 ratio at the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 423.38 million shares, compared to 378.40 million at the same point Tuesday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 1.21, or 0.2 percent, at 594.04. Overseas, Japan's stock exchange was closed for a national holiday. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped 0.1 percent. Back to Original Article: Mortgage News You Can Use
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