Stocks Climb As JPMorgan Raises Bear Bid

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped about 175 points.

Stocks rose after JPMorgan confirmed a New York Times report that the company will boost its offer to $10 per share from $2. The revised plan is aimed at soothing Bear Stearns shareholders upset over JPMorgan's earlier offer, which was made at the behest of the Federal Reserve when Bear Stearns was near collapse.

Bear Stearns shares jumped $5.41, or 91 percent, to $11.37, while JPMorgan rose 94 cents, or 2 percent, to $46.91.

Beyond the troubles of the financials, Wall Street was examining the housing sector the root of much of investors' current angst. A real estate trade group said sales of existing homes rose rather than declined in February, as had been expected.

In midmorning trading, the Dow rose 175.52, or 1.42 percent, to 12,536.84 after rising more than 260 points on Thursday, the last day of trading before the Easter holiday weekend.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.06, or 1.51 percent, to 1,349.57, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 41.79, or 1.85 percent, to 2,299.90.

Monday's gains follow a volatile but ultimately strong week for the markets. The Dow and the S&P each showed gains of more than 3 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq advanced more than 2 percent.

Bond prices fell sharply. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.49 percent from 3.34 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude fell 39 cents to $101.47 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices declined amid speculation that a slowing U.S. economy could damp demand.

Relief over Bear Stearns comes after the investment bank ran into trouble with mortgage-backed securities and an evaporation of liquidity amid nervousness in the credit markets. Wall Street has faced concerns for months that troubles with soured debt and a lack of liquidity could take down banks.

The housing sector, which has also offered a steady drumbeat of mostly negative news, gave investors a welcome lift. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and Wall Street had expected a slight decline. Still, the median home price fell by the largest amount on record.

Beyond housing, a report from Tiffany & Co. helped assuage some concerns about the health of high-end consumers. The jeweler said loans it made to a diamond company weighed on its fourth-quarter profit, but that earnings excluding items were in line with Wall Street's expectations. Tiffany jumped $5.14, or 13 percent, to $43.74.

Walgreen Co. rose $1.77, or 4.8 percent, to $38.55 after the drugstore chain said its second-quarter earnings rose 5 percent as it controlled expenses to offset slower sales growth.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 257.4 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.68, or 1.71 percent, to 693.10.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.02 percent. Markets in Europe and in Hong Kong were closed for Easter Monday.

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