( dpa ) - Stocks rose Monday on Wall Street after US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed that the rate-setting Federal Reserve Board should oversee financial service industries beyond the banking sector currently under the central bank's purview.
Paulson, former chairman of Goldman Sachs, issued a Blueprint for Regulatory Reform amid continuing turmoil in credit markets, which has roiled stocks and the broader economy since summer.
He argued that banking, stock brokering, insurance and other financial services are being regulated under an antiquated system that has failed to keep up with innovation. The solution is not necessarily more regulation but modernized regulatory systems, Paulson said.
The proposal "could restore confidence, and it could bring investors back into the marketplace," Peter Sorrentino, a senior portfolio manager at Huntington Asset Management, told Bloomberg Television.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46.49 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 12,262.89. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 7.48 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 1,322.7. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 17.92 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 2,279.1.
The US currency edged up against the euro to 63.387 euro cents from 63.3 euro cents on Friday. The dollar was firmer against the Japanese currency at 99.755 yen from 99.24 yen on Friday.
Gold dropped 15 dollars to 921.50 dollars per fine ounce.