Stocks soar on European pledge to help banks

[October 11, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Just last week, a bear market seemed inevitable. Since then stocks have surged four out of the past five days, bringing the S&P 500 index up 8.7 percent.

The latest jump came Monday after the leaders of France and Germany pledged to come up with a far-reaching solution to the region's debt crisis by the end of the month.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 330 points, its biggest one-day gain since Aug. 11. It has gained 7.3 percent over the past five days. Bank of America Corp. jumped 6.4 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow.

Sharp turnarounds in the market have become increasingly common. Starting in early August, the market entered a phase of extreme volatility as Europe's debt crisis intensified and fears of another U.S. recession emerged. Last Tuesday, the S&P 500 traded 20 percent below its recent peak in April. Had it closed at or below that level, it would have met the definition of a bear market.

Instead, the S&P began a rally that continued through Monday. The gains were extraordinarily broad; only 5 stocks in the S&P 500 index fell, and ten stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

As in many recent days, a good part of the increase came at the final minutes of trading. The Dow rose 100 points in the last half-hour.

Analysts said the sudden moves aren't likely to dissipate any time soon.

"It's probably going to continue to be a volatile period as people try to work things out and get some sense of where we're heading in the future," said Brian Lazorishak, a portfolio manager at Charlottesville, Va.-based firm Chase Investment Council. "That volatility gets exacerbated by people trying to jump on positive news and negative news before anyone else."

"The more we can put our arms around the problem with a little more detail, the better, and time frames usually help," said Michael Sansoterra, a portfolio manager at Silvant Capital Management in Atlanta.

The Dow rose 330.06 points, or 3 percent, to close at 11,433.18. That's the highest the index has been since Sept. 16.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 39.43 or 3.4 percent, to 1,194.89.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 86.70, or 3.4 percent, to 2,566.05.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday they would finalize a comprehensive response to the debt crisis by the end of the month, including a plan to make sure European banks have adequate capital. Investors have been worried that European leaders weren't moving quickly enough to contain the fallout from a default by Greece's government.

European markets rose and the euro strengthened against the dollar. Investors were also relieved that troubled Franco-Belgian bank Dexia would be partially nationalized. Dexia needed to be rescued because it owns large amounts of government bonds of indebted countries like Greece and Italy.

European banks have become more reluctant to lend to each other, putting overextended banks like Dexia in danger. That prompted the European Central Bank last week to offer unlimited one-year loans to the banks through 2013 to help give them access to credit.

Investors have been worried that a default by Greece could cause the value of Greek bonds held by those banks to plunge, hurting their balance sheets. U.S. banks would also be affected if Greece goes through a messy default, since they own Greek bonds and also have close ties to European banks.

In corporate news, Apple Inc. rose 5.1 percent to $388.81 after reporting that first-day orders for its new iPhone topped 1 million. The phone goes on sale Friday.

Yahoo Inc. jumped 2.4 percent to $15.84 following reports that founder Jerry Yang may organize a buyout of the company with private equity investors.

Sprint Nextel Corp. slumped 7.9 percent to $2.22, the most of any company in the S&P 500 index, after Standard & Poor's said the agency would review Sprint's credit rating. Sprint said last week it would need to raise money to build a high-speed data network even as it spends more to subsidize sales of the new iPhone.

Bond trading was closed for the Columbus Day holiday.

[Associated Press; By CHIP CUTTER and FRANCESCA LEVY]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.