The US government's latest bailout of a big financial company - this time, Citigroup Inc. - sent Wall Street soaring Monday for the second straight session as investors bet that the worst of the financial industry's problems might finally be over.The Dow Jones industrials soared nearly 400 points, while all the major indexes jumped more than 4.5 percent.
The surge gave the market its first two-day advance since the end of October and the Dow its biggest two-day percentage gain since October 1987, the month of the Black Monday crash.
The Dow's 891-point rise over the two sessions also wiped out the 872-point plunge it suffered over the course of Wednesday and Thursday, when investors were anguishing over the fate of Citigroup and financial companies in general, and over the future of the nation's automakers.
Although investors sensed late last week that a rescue of Citigroup was forthcoming, investors nonetheless were heartened, even emboldened, by the U.S. government's decision late Sunday to invest $20 billion in Citigroup and guarantee $306 billion in risky assets.
Wall Street's enthusiasm grew not only because the bailout answered questions about Citigroup but also because many observers saw the move as offering as a model for how the government might carry out other bank stabilizations.
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