Dow climbs 128 points as banking fears ease

NEW YORK - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner persuaded Wall Street to give banks another chance Tuesday.

Geithner's assertion that "the vast majority" of banks have enough capital pulled stocks from a slump that began with a selloff Monday and spilled over into Tuesday morning.

Geithner also told a congressional oversight committee that some banks would be allowed to repay financial bailout funds with the blessing of bank regulators.

The comments signaled that banks might not get poor marks in government "stress tests" designed to determine whether banks have enough capital to survive if the economy turns even worse. The results are due May 4.

"There is the hope that everything will be well after the stress test," said John Nichol, senior portfolio manager at Federated Investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 128 points after tumbling 290 points Monday on worries about bad debt at banks and the implications of the stress tests. The drop punctuated a six-week rally that lifted stocks more than 20 percent from their lowest levels in more than a decade.

The Dow rose 127.83, or 1.6 percent, to 7,969.56.

About four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came 7.22 billion shares, up from 6.79 billion shares Monday.

Crude for July delivery rose 4 cents to settle $48.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.