Popular Lehman stock deal sparks Wall Street rally

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks shot up the most in two weeks on Tuesday after strong demand for a Lehman Brothers share offering quelled fears it was headed toward a fate similar to Bear Stearns and raised optimism that the worst of the credit crisis may be over.

A $19 billion write-down by Swiss bank UBS AG reinforced the view that the banks were aggressively scrubbing their books clean of soured investments tied to the slumping U.S. housing market. Bank stocks charged higher, with big gains by JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and Citigroup helping to drive both the Dow average and the S&P 500 up more than 3 percent.

Technology stocks also had a strong day. The Nasdaq leaped more than 3 percent, helped by Microsoft, whose shares rose 4 percent after the company said it would not raise its takeover offer for Yahoo Inc. and was confident in its bid.

"We're getting to the point where people are starting to believe the magnitude of the write-offs is peaking," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. Equity Group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, in New York. "And, it's Lehman being able to come to market and offer securities. People are interested in placing capital within financials."

For a second day, traders took solace from economic data that was not as dire as forecast. The Institute for Supply Management said its national manufacturing index for March contracted again, but not by as much as economists had predicted.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 391.47 points, or 3.19 percent, to end at 12,654.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 47.48 points, or 3.59 percent, to 1,370.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 83.65 points, or 3.67 percent, to 2,362.75.

Stocks posted their best gains since March 18, the day that the Federal Reserve's policy makers last cut interest rates. Tuesday's rally also marked a strong start for the first day of the second quarter.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's stock jumped 17.8 percent to $44.34 after the investment bank said it raised $4 billion of capital in an offering of convertible preferred shares.