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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (682432)	5/16/2005 4:29:51 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Dow Closes Up 112 on Falling Oil Prices By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 4:13 p.m. ET NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors encouraged by falling oil prices bid stocks sharply higher Monday as fears of a slowdown in consumer spending eased. The broad-based rally boosted the Dow Jones industrial average more than 112 points. Though crude oil futures settled narrowly lower for the session, sharp drops earlier in the day built on last week's losses, giving investors hope that gasoline prices would fall in time for the summer driving season and consumer spending would remain strong. After falling below $48 per barrel earlier in the session, a barrel of light crude settled at $48.61, down 6 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The good news on oil helped investors shrug off the latest reading of the Empire State Index, a measurement of New York's manufacturing sector and a barometer for the rest of the nation. The index dropped sharply this month, showing contraction in the sector when economists had expected strong manufacturing growth instead. ''I would argue the stock market is probably about 5 percent undervalued, but you need a catalyst to get it going, to give investors confidence to buy stocks,'' said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors. ''That catalyst is clearly the decline in the price of oil. That's causing investors to jump on values they see in this market.'' According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 112.17, or 1.11 percent, to 10,252.29. Broader stock indicators also climbed higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 11.64, or 1.01 percent, at 1,165.69, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 17.65, or 0.89 percent, to 1,994.43.