Afternoon Markets: Dow rises as fate of GM hangs in the balance

The Dow Jones had climbed by 72.48 points or 0.87% to 8372.50 this morning as the fate of General Mot...

The Dow Jones had climbed by 72.48 points or 0.87% to 8372.50 this morning as the fate of General Motors waits to be decided. The ailing car manufacturer leapt 6.09% to $1.22 just before 9:00am, as it tries to secure the fate of its domestic and overseas operations ahead of a bankruptcy filing, which could be as early as 31 May according to reports. Information Technology companies were also performing strongly, with Hewlett Packard and Microsoft Corporation among the top performing stocks. Hewlett Packard jumped 2.01% to $35.03, whilst Microsoft rose by 1.84% to $20.49. Financials were...