BOSTON (Dow Jones) -- Shares of Ambac Financial Group Inc. rose sharply Friday morning after a ratings agency affirmed its view on the bond insurer and removed the ratings from review for a possible further downgrade.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services late Thursday affirmed its AA financial strength ratings on Ambac (ABK) and MBIA Inc. (MBI). The stocks were up about 18% and 7%, respectively, in early trading Friday.
Bond and mortgage insurers rallied Thursday after the latest high-profile settlement related to the auction-rate securities mess.
Also Thursday, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association decided to allow newly originated jumbo loans to be included in the to-be- announced market for mortgage-backed securities. The move could lend support to the ailing mortgage market.
Shares of PMI Group Inc. (PMI) rallied 50% on Thursday as investors cheered the mortgage insurer's deal to sell some overseas assets.
Other mortgage insurers traded higher in early dealings Friday. MBIC Investment Corp. (MTG) gained 5% and Radian Group Inc. (RDN) was up nearly 9%.
Despite the recent rally, bond insurers are still down heavily so far this year on worsening conditions in the housing and credit markets. Ambac shares are off about 92% over the trailing 12 months through Thursday's close.
No comments:
Post a Comment