(Bloomberg) — Shares of MBIA Inc. and Assured Guaranty Ltd. jumped after Standard & Poor's lifted the bond insurers' credit ratings.

MBIA, whose grade improved to A- from BBB, gained as much as 6.7% with S&P citing the potential success of its National Public Finance Guarantee unit. Assured rose as much as 5% after the ratings firm said its “competitive position remains strong relative to peers” in a separate report that boosted the ratings to AA from AA-.

MBIA and Assured are the leading companies still seeking to insure municipal bonds after rivals suffered losses on guarantees of subprime-mortgage-backed debt they'd backed in an expansion of the business.

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