Opening Bell Report

A U.S. government rescue package to stabilize the banking industry combined with an SEC ban against the shorting of 799 financial stocks triggered a major rally at the opening bell. The Dow soared more than 300 points to 11,365 while Nasdaq leaped nearly 100 points to 2295.

On the upside

Investors snapped up shares of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) on an expected takeover of the nation's largest savings. Citigroup (NYSE: C) was identified as the likely suitor by a number of news sources.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) soared nearly 50% as prospects improved for the investment banker.

Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) posted earnings that beat expectations. Analysts promptly upgraded the software maker.

On the downside

Shares of Synutra International (NYSE: SYUT) fell to a new 52-week low as investors continued to worry about links between the Chinese maker of baby formula to recent melamine contaminations.

Sycamore Networks (Nasdaq: SCMR) reported a narrow loss. The network infrastructure company also posted lower revenue numbers.

Airline stocks lagged the rest of the market as oil prices edged higher. Shares of UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA) and AMR (NYSE: AMR) were down slightly.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 33 points to 756.