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Chicago: US President-elect Barack Obama moved towards nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, according to reports.
Geithner had been seen as one of two main candidates for the Treasury job along with former Clinton administration Treasury chief Lawrence Summers.
US stocks soared on the Geithner news, first reported by NBC News, pushing major indices up more than 6 per cent. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 8,000.
Senator Hillary Clinton also appeared headed to be nominated as Obama’s secretary of state.
The New York Times reported that Clinton had accepted the offer, quoting two Clinton associates, however, Clinton’s senior adviser Philippe Reines said it is still under discussion.
NBC News said Obama was expected to announce Geithner and other members of his economic team on Monday to try to calm US financial markets.
"A fantastic choice to help lead the financial markets out of the wilderness," said Chris Rupkey, economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York.
He called Geithner a "crisis manager par excellence" who would hit the ground running.
NBC also said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson could get Obama's nod to become commerce secretary.
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones has emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser, according to Democratic sources. Jones is a former top operational commander of Nato.
Obama is also leaning toward keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates is praised for overseeing a military strategy shift in Iraq that helped bring the country back from the brink of civil war.
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