much of christchurch is in ruins and 75 confirmed dead but that number will rise considerably. a seven story tower collapsed in the earthquake and police are certain that no one trapped in the rubble is still alive. search teams from other nations including the united states are helping with the efforts. for more information foxnews.com with the latest on the rescue efforts. the unrest if libya pushing oil to its highest level in 2 1/2 years with a barrel beyond $200 if trading today for crude. it has come back down off the session highs, settling around $98 since a high in 2008. as we reported earlier, according to the energy administration, they have the largest reserves in africa and the biggest producer of crude in the world. and now, the fox business network s reporter, prices are going up yet?
body rested. stress gone. mind sharp. because unisom gave you deep restful sleep all night. morning early birds. unisom. good night. good morning. pictures, information, insight you won t find anywhere else. cnn newsroom with tony harris. anything can happen. three hours into the trading day, let s look the at big board behind me. the dow is up 32 points, i guess off of session highs. we ve got a pretty good housing report out there, you would think that another day, another week, that housing report might be bringing some energy to the markets, but not the case. it s modest, what we ve got going on right now is pretty modest and the nasdaq at last check is up seven points.
with 110 days until the bush do this first. the cnnmoney.com. talk to jean in a moment. cnnmoney.com. it is your place for the latest financial news. the dow quickly here. 91 points. in positive territory. we are off session highs but it s still looking good. we re in positive territory. three hours into the trading day. the bush tax cuts. boy, a hot topic. right? set to expire. the debate on whether to extend them really raging right now on capitol hill. but the impact felt on main street and the bank accounts of millions of americans. jean, senior writer, jean, explain the argument that goes extending the tax cuts would help preserve the recovery. we know a new survey of a group of economists showing support for extending them. doesn t it? reporter: right.
right now, tony, as they are donating two republican campaigns over democratic ones. trying to win re-election, and okay. then let s just talk about my that s the lead story. tip sheet for the week. a bunch of other items under what a week in olitics, tony. latest news for to you check out. what a crazy week in politics. cnnmoney.com. our money team doing a trick job as usual today and every day. we have seven states holding primaries tomorrow including the let s get you to the big board. district of columbia. new york stock exchange, the dow eight total. competitive races in new in positive territory. hampshire, in delaware. i think slightly off session here. i d.c., theayor is up highs, still in good shape. up a 61 points. against the wall and, of course, charlie rangel,ni embattled nasdaq, 34 points follong these numbers throughout the represent niv harlem a tough contest. a lot of questions for mr. day. confidence appears to be back on wall street, at least for the rangel up there.
which of the three would be released. but talk about anticipation. talk about the families of these hikers being on edge. one will be released. why not all three i guess is the obvious question here. but it s a start after a year of captivity for these american hikers. so we re going to continue to follow developments in this story to be sure and bring you some additional information. let s take a look at the markets. do we have a picture of the big board? i know we re in positive territory and we have been for most of the day. is that correct, ali? it looks like we re off the session highs so far, up 65 points. any numbers on the nasdaq? it s because of the jobs. so we ve got welcome news on the economy today. the weekly jobless report is out. ali, better than expected? yeah, substantially better than expected, actually. a lot of people filing for first-time unemployment claims last week. 415,000. that s a big number.