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Stocks start with small gains

U.S. markets start higher as investors cheer Bank of America's stake in Countrywide, hope for Fed rate cut.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks crept higher at Thursday's open as investors welcomed Bank of America's stake in troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial and bet on a Fed rate cut soon.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose slightly in the first minutes of trading, along with the Nasdaq composite index and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Companies in the news Thursday included Countrywide (Charts, Fortune 500); Bank of America (Charts, Fortune 500); Home Depot (Charts, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (Charts, Fortune 500), Barnes & Noble (Charts, Fortune 500),Smithfield Foods (Charts, Fortune 500). Top of page

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