Stocks are rallying back after a terrifying open that saw the Dow fall over 460 points within minutes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Since then, buyers have returned, spurred on by the Fed’s unprecedented 0.75% emergency rate cut. The rally has so far recouped all but 145 points of the Dow’s drop, and pulled the Nasdaq out of the bear-market territory it had slipped into.
“We had pent up selling because we were closed yesterday,” one market strategist explained. “Those orders were waiting to be executed, regardless of a Fed cut, regardless of a stimulus package.” The sell-off was driven both by plunges in foreign markets, and dismal earning reports from Bank of America and Wachovia. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged rapid action on a stimulus package. (More stocks stories.)