Special Report: Global Financial Crisis    

    NEW YORK, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street rallied Friday after a two-day plunge following reports that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary.

    All major indexes jumped more than 5 percent and the Dow Jones industrials surging nearly 500 points in a late afternoon rally.

    U.S. stocks opened higher in the morning after market rout in the past two days, which sent the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index to the lowest finish since March 2003 and the lowest close since April 1997 separately, attracted bargain hunters.

    The Dow Jones average rose 494.13 points, or 6.54 percent, to settle at 8,046.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 47.59, or 6.32 percent, to 800.03, and the Nasdaq composite advanced 68.23, or 5.18 percent, to 1,384.35.

New York Fed head named as candidate for Obama's treasury secretary

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Timothy Geithner, the current New York Federal Reserve head, was named as the top candidate for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's treasury secretary, said a TV report on Friday.

    According to NBC, the 47-year-old president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was considered as one of the two most potential for the key cabinet post, along with Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury chief in the Clinton's administration. Full story

U.S. Treasury to assist mutual fund

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday that it agreed to assist with the liquidation of The Reserve Fund's U.S. Government Fund, due to unique and extraordinary circumstances.

    The fund, which Treasury accepted into its temporary guarantee program for money market funds, has not made a claim to Treasury under the program, according to a statement released by the Treasury. Full story

Crude futures rebound after hitting three-year-low

    NEW YORK, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Crude futures rebounded slightly on Friday after hitting a new low in more than three years.

    Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 51 cents to settle at 49.93 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping as low as 48.25 dollars, the level never seen since May 2005. Full story