美国投行，股票大大回转

US rally follows worst trading week since Depression
By Alistair Gray in New York

Published: October 13 2008 13:56 | Last updated: October 13 2008 21:43

The latest round of vast interventions in the financial system from authorities around the world stoked one of Wall Street’s strongest ever rallies following its worst sell-off since the Depression.

Carmakers, oil refiners and health care groups were among the favourites as traders snapped up battered stocks, some of which had slumped to their lowest levels in decades.

Morgan Stanley’s long-awaited $9bn investment deal with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial also improved the grim mood. Uncertainty that hung over the deal for days had weighed on the wider market even after both parties insisted it would go ahead. Morgan topped S&P 500 leaderboard, up 85.1 per cent to $17.92, while peer Goldman Sachs climbed 25 per cent to $111.

The benchmark index surged 11.6 per cent to 1,003.32 points, ending an eight-session losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 11.1 per cent to 9,387.61 points and the Nasdaq Composite Index 11.8 per cent to 1,844.25 points.

Some observers said it was difficult to draw conclusions from the thinned trading and put much of the gains down to short covering. Bond markets were closed owing to the Columbus Day holiday.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, fell 20.4 per cent on Monday, although at 55.65 it continued to indicate signs of severe distress.

Among the winners in financials, Citigroup, which last week withdrew from talks to buy parts of Wachovia, rallied 11.6 per cent to $15.75. Wells Fargo also gained, up 7.4 per cent to $30.40, after the Federal Reserve approved its $12.2bn takeover of the embattled investment bank, which jumped 13.6 per cent to $5.85.

Sovereign Bank fell 3.4 per cent to $3.68 ever after it emerged Banco Santander of Spain was in talks to acquire one of the nation’s few remaining independent thrifts.

Insurers also recovered after being routed in previous sessions. Hartford Financial Services, XL Capital and Prudential Financial climbed 28.1 per cent to $24.63, 36.8 per cent to $7.43 and 38.3 per cent to $49.95, respectively.

Fox-Pitt Kelton said XL, which slumped 63.8 per cent last week, might have to consider a “hasty sale”.

The energy sector, which lost 22 per cent last week, recovered 18.5 per cent and led the gains on hopes the forthcoming economic slowdown would not be as bad as last week’s brutal sell-off implied.

“This is not a Great Depression II,” wrote Merrill Lynch in a note to clients. “Bank failures, evaporation of disposable income, industrial production decl­ines and risk premiums for bonds were significantly worse then versus now.”

General Motors, which last week sank to its lowest since 1950, recovered 33.1 per cent to $6.51 on reports that the carmaker had held merger talks with Ford Motor and Chrysler. The former jumped 20.1 per cent to $2.39, also helped by reports that the group was considering selling its controlling stake in Mazda, Japanese counterpart.

Telecoms was another big winner, up 9.6 per cent. AT&T rallied 16.3 per cent to $26.07 after the group agreed its first retail distribution arrangements to sell its high-speed internet and video service. Wal-Mart and Circuit City, with which it struck the deals, added 7 per cent to $54.50 and 8.1 per cent to $0.40, respectively.

Qwest Communications jumped 25.7 per cent to $2.74 after the phone company reached an agreement with its largest union over a pay dispute.

King Pharmaceuticals was among the leading winners in the healthcare sector, which was also hit hard last week in spite of its defensive qualities yet recovered 12.4 per cent on Monday. King jumped 18.6 per cent to $9.26 after the group extended by more than a month the deadline for its $37-a-share takeover bid for Alpharma, which rose 10.4 per cent to $33.80.

The cash-rich technology sector also did well, up 12.1 per cent. Apple rose 13.9 per cent to $110.26 after Sanford C. Bernstein raised its recommendation on the stock from “market perform” to “outperform”.

Elsewhere, Waste Management added 18 per cent to $30.39 after the trash hauler walked away from its $6.73bn hostile takeover of Republic Services, which rose 8.9 per cent to $24.50.