US stocks surge after news of possible eurozone deal

NEW YORK: US stocks surged Thursday after news that European leaders were nearing a deal to take the pressure off the eurozone's most troubled economies including Greece.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 127.00 points (1.01 percent) to 12,698.91 in the first 30 minutes of trade.

The broader S&P 500 rose 15.78 points (1.19 percent) to 1,341.62, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 20.97 points (0.75 percent) to 2,835.20.

Investors had to overcome some disappointing manufacturing data from China and Europe, along with a rise in US jobless claims, said analysts at Charles Schwab.

"A slew of upbeat earnings reports in the US and optimism toward a resolution for the bailout of debt-laden Greece, which is stemming eurozone contagion fears, are providing the sustenance for the bulls," the broker said.

New US claims for unemployment insurance, a barometer of the jobs market, rose by 10,000 to 418,000 for the the week ending July 16, against hopes of a decline that might signal a pickup in economic activity.

Shares in Morgan Stanley, whose quarterly loss was significantly less than expected, pushed up 6.1 percent.

AT&T, which edged beyond analysts' profit and revenue expectations, rose 1.5 percent.

EBay shares added 3.3 percent on its strong earnings report, but Intel's solid quarter failed to help its stock, down 1.3 percent).

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.96 percent from 2.93 percent late Wednesday, while the 30-year bond climbed to 4.30 percent from 4.26 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011