Stocks Jump on Auto Hope

Stocks burst out of the gate this morning, as investors continued to cheer Barack Obama’s infrastructure plan and imminent help for the auto industry. The Dow rocketed up 229 points, accompanied by 2.7% and 2.9% jumps for the Nasdaq and S&P, the Wall Street Journal reports. Those gains were presaged by huge rallies overseas, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 8.7% and London’s FTSE up 5.4%.

“Obama’s announcement had very good timing and we’ll see euphoria today,” one money manager told Bloomberg. “Financials and industrials will be the big winners. The US auto industry will be rescued as it is too big to fail.” (More stock market stories.)