Bank of America declined to comment on speculation it was in talks to buy investment bank Lehman Brothers after a report in the Wall Street journal.
That late-day speculation, citing unnamed sources, was powerful enough to reverse the stock market's losses.The Dow ended the session with a gain of 164 points to 11,433. The S&P 500 rallied 17 points to 1,249. The Nasdaq jumped 29 points to 2,258.Crude oil dropped $1.71 to settle at $100.87 a barrel.Conway Gittens reports from New York.SOUNDBITE: Michael Theesfeld, senior trader, HPR Commodities
