Thursday's early afternoon trade: buyers rush in after eurozone debt deal

US stocks surged more than 2 percent on Thursday after European leaders reached a long-awaited agreement to boost the region's bailout fund and struck a deal on Greek bonds, which promised to remove a major headwind for the market. The S&P 500 was on pace for its best monthly percentage gain since January 1987 on optimism that European leaders were nearing a resolution of the sovereign debt crisis that could end market uncertainty and drive stocks for the near term.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 302.39 points, or 2.55 percent, to 12,171.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 36.27 points, or 2.92 percent, to 1,278.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 76.26 points, or 2.88 percent, to 2,726.93. Financials were the best performers, with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co up 7.2 percent to $36.63 and Citigroup Inc jumping 8.6 percent to $33.85. The KBW Bank index shot up 5.5 percent.