BOSTON (Thomson Financial) - The financial sector turned broadly higher Thursday, following a report that said Bank of America is in advanced talks to purchase the embattled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.
According to the Wall Street Journal, it is not clear how quickly a merger might take place but, citing two people familiar with the matter, it 'could occur soon.'
Countrywide shares soared as much as 74% in intraday trading before paring gains to trade up 62% at $8.30. Volume was 188 million shares vs. the full-day average over the past 30 days of about 46.6 million shares.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 3.4% to $27.87, erasing earlier losses of as much as 1.9%. On Wednesday, the ETF had hit an intraday low of $25.91, the lowest price seen since October 2003.
Among the individual issuers, shares of Wachovia Corp. jumped 3.9% to $36.42, Wells Fargo & Co. rallied 4.1% to $28.14.
American International Group Inc. rose 3.5% to $58.44, Citigroup Inc. gained 3.2% to $28.36, and Morgan Stanley tacked on 1.8% at $48.62.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. rose 1.8% to $39.45. Casey Logan cl/tk1 COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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