US stocks finish higher

Wall Street closed out another erratic week with a big gain today after investors took comments from President George W Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as reassuring signs Wall Street won’t be left to deal with problems in the mortgage and credit markets on its own.

Investors balked early in today’s session when comments from Bernanke did not indicate a cut in the benchmark federal funds rate was imminent. However, they moved past some of their initial disappointment and appeared to concentrate on comments that the Fed would step in if needed.