Wall Street closes higher as financials rally

Wall Street rose for the first time in three days Thursday, after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were loosened restrictions to help revive the mortgage industry.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spurred bank rally, after the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said large home loans financed by the two companies will be allowed in the bond market.
Decline in oil prices also helped financials rally. Light, sweet crude fell 99 cents to 115.01 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Financials rose 2.6 percent and offset early declines triggered by another hefty jump in consumer prices.
The U.S. Labor Department posted that the consumer price index climbed 0.8 percent July, which is twice as much as anticipated and brings inflation to its highest annual pace in 17 years. The core index, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.3 percent last month, also more than projected.
The Labor Department also reported that applications for jobless benefits dropped 10.000 to 450,000 last week. However, the reading was a smaller decline than had been expected and left the four-week average for claims at the highest level in six years.
The Dow Jones rose 82.97, or 0.72 percent, to 11,615.93. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 7.10, or 0.55 percent, to 1,292.93; and the Nasdaq rose 25.05, or 1.03 percent, to 2,453.67.
Source:Xinhua