Updated at: 2222 PST, Friday, February 11, 2011
 NEW YORK: US stocks jumped Friday within seconds of the news of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, rebounding from earlier slight losses to solid gains.
Minutes after the announcement that the Middle East strongman of three decades had stepped down, the main indexes rocketed upward, after a morning of trading trading lower on worries that rising tensions in Cairo could turn violent.
At 1630 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 29.67 (0.24 percent) to 12,261.08, while the S&P 500 index rose 5.21 points (0.40 percent) to 1,327.12.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite was up 8.79 points (0.35 percent) at 2,799.24.
Stock markets across the Americas also jumped on the news. Brazil's Bovespa index was up about 1.75 percent for the day while Mexico's IPC had added 0.41 percent.
"We think having the military take over was the best solution in ending the deadlock between the protesters and Mubarak," Brown Brothers Harriman said in a comment on the situation.
However, the Wall Street investment bank warned, "there are still more questions than answers with regards to Egypt's ultimate fate and so investors must be prepared for ongoing volatility."
The US equity markets meanwhile remained cautious over the White House's plan for a radical revamp of the housing mortgage industry, including winding down government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have underpinned the housing market for 40 years. (AFP) |
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