US stocks rally after Fed cut key interest rates

NEW YORK : US stocks staged an exuberant rally on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve slashed key interest rates by a half point to ease tight credit and housing market distress.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 335.97 points (2.51 percent) to close at 13,739.39 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 70.00 points (2.71 percent) to 2,651.66.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 43.13 points (2.92 percent) to finish at 1,519.78.
Investors cheered the unanimous decision by Federal Reserve policymakers to cut the federal funds rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans, by a hefty half point to 4.75 percent.
It was the first reduction in the benchmark rate in four years and was expected to ease tight credit throughout the economy.

<---------- Hip Hip Hooray!