New York -- U.S. markets rose sharply Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it would cut its key lending rate to historic lows.

The Fed's Open Market Committee trimmed rates from 1 percent to a range between zero and 0.25 percent, citing declines in consumer spending, industrial production and the U.S. job market.

After the announcement, the Dow Jones industrial average tripled its gains on the day, closing 359.61 points ahead, up 4.2 percent, at 8,924.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 5.14 percent, 44.61 points, to 913.18. The Nasdaq composite index was up 81.55 points, 5.41 percent, to 1,589.89.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,681 stocks advanced and 477 declined on a volume of 5.3 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 2 2/32 to yield 2.297 percent.

Washington -- The former top executive of General Re Corp. was sent to prison Tuesday for scheming to manipulate AIG's financial statements, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. Justice Department said Ronald E. Ferguson, 66, of Fairfield, Conn., who was chief executive officer of the reinsurance company from about 1987 through September 2001, was sentenced to two years in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney in Washington. He also was fined $200,000 and will serve two years of supervised release once he completes his prison term.

Ferguson had been convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 25 on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and mail fraud. Four co-defendants also were convicted.

Chicago -- Grains closed higher on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday as the dollar fell further against the euro and yen.

Building on Monday's gains, corn was up 18 3/4 to up 19 1/4, wheat was up 24 to up 24 1/2 and oats were up 9 to up 10. Soybeans, after dipping Monday, were up 12 1/2 to up 15 1/4.

Traders said the weak dollar and dry weather in Argentina contributed to rising corn prices. Wheat rose as Taiwan purchased 56,030 metric tons Tuesday. Soybean prices rose, although Egypt sharply reduced a purchase from 20,000 to 5,000 metric tons.

The prices:

Corn: Mar 3.94, up 18 3/4; May 4.05 1/4, up 18 3/4; Jul 4.16 1/4, up 19, Sep 4.27, up 19 1/4.

Soybeans: Jan 8.58 1/2, up 12 1/2; Mar 8.63, up 13 1/2; May 8.74 1/2, up 14 1/2; Jul 8.85, up 15 1/4.

Tallahassee, Fla. -- The cost of a $1.34 billion Florida land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. could reach $3.4 billion once interest on loans has been figured in, a state official said.

The South Florida Water Management District board was to vote on the deal that would tie in 180,000 acres of natural water flows between Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Everglades.

Since the deal was first discussed last summer the state's revenue projections have dropped and a rival bidder for the land, The Lawrence Group, has increased its lobbying efforts.

The Lawrence Group said it would sell land to the state for environmental restoration and keep sugar production going in the area, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday.

The dialog between the group and a water board member has even gotten sultry.

Washington -- The U.S. Federal Reserve Tuesday cut the federal fund rate from 1 percent to a range between zero percent and 0.25 percent, the lowest in its history.

Although "inflationary pressures have diminished considerably," the Fed said that the labor market, consumer spending, business investment and industrial production "have all declined."

"Financial markets remain quite strained and credit conditions tight," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement.

The "focus ... going forward will be to support the functioning of financial markets and stimulate the economy through open market operations and other measures," the statement said.

The Fed's board unanimously approved the action, which exceeded the consensus expectation of a 0.5 percentage point cut. Economists also had not predicted the Fed would set a range for the rate banks used to lend each other money overnight, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Pittsburgh -- The coal and gas company Consol Energy Inc. has won the naming rights for the new Pittsburgh Penguins hockey arena.

The deal means that the arena will be known as the Consol Energy Center for 21 years after its opening for the 2010-2011 season, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The team has not released the amount of money involved, but Consol is believed to be paying millions of dollars.

Marc Ganis of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago company, suggested that Consol is paying $2 million a year.

Mario Lemieux, co-owner of the Penguins, announced the awarding of the naming rights Monday at a news conference. He said that Consol's money would help keep the Penguins a competitive NHL team.

Several years ago, H.J. Heinz Inc. agreed to pay $2.85 million a year for 20 years for naming rights to Heinz Field, where the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers play. PNC Financial Services Inc. is putting up $1.8 million a year for PNC Park, the Pirates' stadium.

Washington -- The Consumer Price Index dropped by 1.7 percent in November, falling for the second consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday.

The decline exceeded economists expectations of a 1.3 percent drop and indicates that consumers have sharply reduced spending.

Core inflation, taking out the influences of food and energy costs, was flat in November, but came in 2 percent higher than November 2007, the report said.

"Falling energy prices, particularly gasoline, drove the decline in the overall index," the report said.

Energy prices dropped 17 percent in November, while the price index for gasoline dropped 29.5 percent.

Food and beverage prices rose 0.2 percent following a 0.3 percent rise in October.

In November, housing prices fell 0.1 percent, transportation prices fell 9.8 percent and medical prices rose 0.2 percent.

Oran, Algeria -- Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Tuesday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production by 2 million barrels a day.

"Supply is somewhat in excess of demand. Inventories are also higher than normal," Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi minister, said as he arrived in Algeria for the OPEC meeting which begins Wednesday, The New York Times reported.

"To bring things in balance there will be a cut in production of about 2 million barrels," he said.

OPEC has also appealed to oil exporting countries outside the cartel to cut production.

Russia has said it would consider such a move, possibly reducing output by 600,000 barrels a day, the Times said.

In October, OPEC members trimmed production quotas 1.5 million barrels a day, a reaction to falling prices that peaked at $147 per barrel in July and had fallen to about $60 a barrel.

New York -- U.S. markets rose Tuesday as investors anticipated a federal fund rate cut announcement later in the day.

In early afternoon trading, while policymakers at the U.S. Federal Reserve met for the second of a two-day meeting, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 108.32 points, or 1.26 percent, to 8,672.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.8 percent, 15.65 points, to 884.22. The Nasdaq composite index was up 36.384 points, 2.44 percent, to 1,545.18.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 5/32 to yield 2.533 percent.

The euro rose to $1.3821, compared to Monday's $1.3708. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell to 89.87 yen, down from Monday's 90.74 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 96.64 points to 8,568.02, down 1.12 percent.

London -- Shares of Europe's largest bank, HSBC Holdings, fell 1.2 percent after the bank said it could stand to lose $1 billion in a massive fraud scheme.

Federal Investigators have said New York trader Bernard Madoff's company could have defrauded investors of more than $50 million in a giant Ponzi scheme, a set-up in which investors are paid returns from other investors' purchases, rather than from legitimate earnings.

In addition, CLSA Asia Pacific Markets said HSBC may try to raise $14 billion to offset its exposure to U.S. and British loan defaults, where 75 percent of the bank's loans are concentrated, MarketWatch reported Tuesday.

CLSA, consequently, dropped its share price target about 30 percent for the bank's Hong Kong shares, MarketWatch said.