TOPWRAP 9-Obama victory met with urgent calls, feeble market
* Investors, world leaders urge swift, bold action
* Another 157,000 U.S. jobs lost, service sector contracts
* Oil and stocks surrender their Election Day gains
* Germany OKs 50 bln euro stimulus, Italy to back banks
* Interbank rates fall, 3-month dollar funds near 4-yr low
(For more on the financial crisis, click on [nCRISIS])
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama stepped into his new role on Wednesday facing calls for urgent action to stem the global financial crisis as he was hit with gloomy news about U.S. jobs and the service sector.
A day after his historic election as America's first black president, Obama heard a chorus of congratulations from around the world but also warnings about the creeping global recession that will crowd the top of his agenda along with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [nN03331953]
Investors and world leaders expressed hope Obama could guide the international community while investors eagerly awaited an announcement on who would be selected as Treasury Secretary to oversee the $700 billion program to buy distressed assets and recapitalize wobbly financial institutions. [nN05298435]
"The president-elect will have to move quickly to ensure a smooth and quick transition. His first appointments must focus on his economic team," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of top bond fund Pimco, with $830 billion in assets under management.
The short list for Treasury Secretary likely includes former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [nN05502098]
Obama has proposed a new economic stimulus package to help revive the economy, which is still staggering from a mortgage crisis that left financial institutions overleveraged, undermined confidence, froze credit markets and transformed Wall Street.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives planned a stimulus proposal of their own. [nN05290848]
"We need a new deal for a new world," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "I sincerely hope that with the leadership of President Obama, the United States of America will join forces with Europe to drive this new deal."
Markets that had been ebullient on Election Day reversed course on the day after. After setting an Election Day record with a 3.3 percent rally on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average .DJI plunged more than 5 percent on Wednesday. Continued...
