MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

NY Fed Reserve Geithner tipped for Treasury Secretary

Timothy Geithner, would be nominated as treasury secretary

United States shares rose sharply on Friday following a report that US President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his treasury secretary, reassuring investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 494 points or 6.5% to end at 8,046.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 climbed 6.3%.

The NBC television network reported the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy Geithner, would be nominated as treasury secretary. Mr Obama is expected to announce his economic team on Monday. The NBC report was welcomed by investors in what has been yet another volatile week of trading amid ongoing fears over the scale of the economic contraction. Mr Geithner has worked closely with outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in addressing the credit crisis and finding ways to boost the economy. The 47-year-old played a crucial role in talks with Lehman Brothers before the investment bank went bankrupt. He was also instrumental in the deals involving insurer AIG and JP Morgan, another bank. The NBC report was enough to counter concerns over the finance sector and in particular the future over banking giant Citigroup, which saw its shares plummet 20% as board members met. Rising commodity prices helped boost mining and energy firms. Aluminium company Alcoa added 23% while Exxon climbed 10%, after the price of oil recovered from its lowest level in more than three years. According to his official biography posted on the Federal Reserve site Timothy F. Geithner became the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on November 17, 2003. In that capacity, he serves as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy. Mr. Geithner joined the Department of Treasury in 1988 and worked in three administrations for five Secretaries of the Treasury in a variety of positions. He served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 1999 to 2001 under Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003. Before joining the Treasury, Mr. Geithner worked for Kissinger Associates, Inc. Mr. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor's degree in government and Asian studies in 1983 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a master's in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan. Mr. Geithner serves as chairman of the G-10's Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems of the Bank for International Settlements. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Group of Thirty.