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Gyrating Dow Closes Up 400 Points

Easier interbank lending and oil drop boost index

What's more important, depressing economic and earnings data or easing of the strained money markets? Investors sent the Dow spinning today as they weighed the two, finally settling for positivity and powering the industrial average 401.35 points higher to a close at 8,979.26. The S&P also posted more than a four percent gain, and the Nasdaq swelled 5.49 percent. Citigroup sparked early worries by announcing a $4.4 billion write-down in the securities and banking division; oil dropped to below $70 a barrel for the first time since June 2007, alarming OPEC; and Southwest Airlines announced its first quarterly net loss in 17 years. A bright spot was the improvement in interbank lending rates.