Stocks shot up at the bell this morning, powered by rallies overseas and speculation that another Fed rate cut is coming down the pike. The Dow rose 239, while the S&P and Nasdaq saw 2.9% and 3.3% jumps respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng in particular saw a dizzying 14.4% jump after a grisly day yesterday, though one market watcher warned that Asia’s “trading mentality” could render gains ephemeral.
The Fed began its deliberations today, and investors are betting it’ll slash 0.5% from its benchmark rate, bringing it to just 1%. Citigroup also announced that its US balanced funds would be moving heavily into stocks this week, which could shoot life into a market short on liquidity. There was bad news, however, from Whirlpool, which trimmed its 2008 guidance and will cut 5,000 jobs. (More stock market stories.)