Stocks soar as recovery seen following bailout of mortgage giants

NEW YORK — Stocks rallied today as investors placed bets that a recovery in the financial and housing sectors is more likely to occur following the U.S. government's move to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 289.78, or 2.6 percent, to 11,510.74, after being up nearly 350 points in the early going.

Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, added 47 cents to close at $26.12 a share. Boeing, also a Dow stock, gained $1.02 to $63.91.

Broader stock indicators were also higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 25.48, or 2.1 percent, to 1,267.79, and the Nasdaq composite index added 13.88, or 0.6 percent, to 2,269.76.

The announcement Sunday that the Treasury Department was seizing control of the companies, which own or back about half the nation's mortgage debt, brushed aside investors' long-simmering worries that the pair would be felled by a spike in bad mortgage debt.

Investors were hoping that the plan to inject up to $100 billion in each of the government-chartered mortgage financiers could not only help lower mortgage rates but perhaps help buoy the overall economy. The move could help banks feel more open to write new mortgages and to refinance existing mortgages at lower rates, offering a possible lifeline to consumers struggling with increasing payments.

But the government's steadying hand for two institutions that many Wall Street observers had said were simply too big to let fail isn't likely to alleviate troubles for homeowners who have fallen far behind on their mortgages.

Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams in New York, said that while the plan boosts confidence in sectors like financials and home builders, it doesn't immediately alleviate worries about other areas of the economy. Still, he said the move was far more welcome than a collapse of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

"It saves Armageddon from happening," he said. "If you think about it, this helps the financials, this helps the housing market. Tech took a huge hit last week. Does this really affect tech? I don't think so."