Dow Jones rallies over 900 points; markets up on rescue news

Wall Street rallied at the start of the week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 936 points or 11 per cent, posting its biggest-ever point gain or the biggest one-day percentage advance it has seen since March 1933.

Rebounding after last week's ravaging after announcements from major governments about steps to support the global financial system, the markets were up on the news that the US Treasury was mulling further acquisitions of some banking stocks. The rally held even as the Treasury Department outlined some plans for infusing cash into the struggling US financial institutions, while the Federal Reserve (Fed) campaigned for a global effort to ease up liquidity in banking systems worldwide.

Amongst plans to acquire more banking stocks, the Treasury said that it would evaluate equity investments in financial institutions and healthy banks on attractive terms. The markets appeared buoyed by news that the Bush administration was moving quickly to implement its $700 billion rescue program.

Most markets worldwide gained at the start of the week, with Standard & Poor's 500 index jumping 85.48, or 8.8 per cent to 984.70. The Nasdaq composite index was also up 147.33 or 9.2 per cent to 1,796.84.

In London, European stocks reached for the sky on Monday with a number of markets posting double-digit gains as European governments commenced rescue plans for shaky banks.The London FTSE 100 was up 324.8 points or 8.26 per cent to close at 4,256.90. Germany's benchmark DAX was up 518.14 points or 11.40 per cent to 5,062.45 points. Japanese markets were closed yesterday on account of the Sports Day public holiday.