US stocks surge after Euro debt talks

US stocks surged overnight as investors found reasons for optimism in a barrage of headlines from Europe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 140.88 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 11,246.73. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 15.81 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 1,188.68, while the technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite advanced 40.40 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 2,572.55. The Dow has now posted three straight days of gains. The Nasdaq briefly recovered all its losses for the month, and is now down just 0.3 per cent for September. During the morning, the Dow plunged over 100 points in minutes after headlines suggested Austria's Parliament had voted down an upgraded bailout fund for Europe. But the market quickly retraced those declines after officials said Parliament had only rejected changing the agenda and would hold a special meeting on the bailout fund. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. A scheduled conference call between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and French President Nicolas Sarkozy further bolstered sentiment, as investors took hope that the three leaders would stand behind commitments to keep Greece in the eurozone. With a half-hour left in trading, the Dow had advanced more than 280 points before cutting those gains in half by the closing bell. Amid the skittishness over any news involving the 17-nation eurozone's debt crisis, Ms Merkel earlier rejected speculation that Greece is nearing default or would be forced to leave the 17-nation eurozone. That offset the effects of a widely expected downgrade by Moody's Investors Service of two French banks. Technology stocks were among the sectors leading the market higher, and the sector has been the best performer for the week and month. Intel gained 1.7 percent, IBM added 2.3 percent and Microsoft rose 1.8 percent. Industrial and materials stocks were also strong, with DuPont adding 1.9 percent and 3M gaining 2.1 percent. Home Depot also was strong with a 2.7 percent advance. On the economic front, retail sales in August came in unchanged, disappointing Wall Street expectations for a 0.3 percent gain. The previous month's number also was revised downward. Separately, US business inventories in July increased by a less-than-expected 0.4 percent, an indication that companies weren't excited about the economy's prospects. In corporate news, Hertz Global Holdings surged 13 percent after rival Avis Budget Group said it was dropping its more than yearlong effort to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, leaving Hertz as the sole bidder for Dollar Thrifty. Avis gained 6.3 per cent while Dollar Thrifty edged up 0.5 percent.