Dow rockets 300 points

U.S. stocks rally after Fed cuts symbolic interest rate; major gauges up more than 2%.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks surged at Friday's open after the Federal Reserve cut a largely symbolic interest rate in the wake of "deteriorated" market conditions.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared more than 300 points. The Nasdaq composite index was 2.9 percent higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index catapulted 2.5 percent.

Among stocks in the news Friday: Countrywide Financial (Charts, Fortune 500), Dell (Charts, Fortune 500), Hewlett-Packard (Charts, Fortune 500), Whole Foods Market (Charts, Fortune 500), Wild Oats Markets (Charts) and Midwest Air Group (Charts). Top of page

Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.