St. Louis ? Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was released from the hospital Thursday after spending the night to undergo tests for flu-like symptoms.

“I feel great. Take care. Merry Christmas, I’m feeling fine thanks to the hospital. They did a great job,” a smiling and waving Giuliani said as he left Barnes-Jewish Hospital en route to New York.

He arrived home in New York late Thursday and spoke to reporters outside his Manhattan apartment building.

Giuliani, 63, was to spend today off the campaign trail. Aides said he would make planned stops in New Hampshire on Saturday and Sunday.

The former New York mayor felt the symptoms while campaigning in Missouri and they soon became worse, campaign spokeswoman Katie Levinson said late Wednesday. She did not describe the symptoms beyond those being commonly associated with the flu.

In a statement Thursday, the campaign said doctors had performed a series of precautionary tests and the results were normal.