US stocks close higher on eurozone hopes

US stocks rallied sharply overnight, closing up three per cent after Germany and France pledged over the weekend to come up with a comprehensive solution to the eurozone debt crisis within weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 330.06 points (2.97 per cent) to finish at 11,433.18. The broader S&P 500 surged 39.43 points (3.41 per cent) to 1,194.89, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 86.70 points (3.50 per cent) to 2,566.05. Stocks piled up gains ``after government leaders in Germany and France said they would develop a plan to recapitalise banks by the end of the month,'' said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Advisors. Trade was thinner than usual with much of the country, including federal and local governments, as well as the bond market, on holiday for Columbus Day. All 30 Dow blue chips ended higher just ahead of the third-quarter earnings season that kicks off Tuesday after the market closes, with Alcoa the first Dow component to report. Alcoa leaped 3.9 per cent Monday, while Caterpillar jumped 4.8 per cent. Financials benefited from hopes that Europe will boost the capital of its banks suffering from the public debt crises in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Bank of America surged 6.4 per cent, JPMorgan Chase was up 5.2 per cent and American Express added 4.7 per cent. Apple leaped 5.1 per cent after saying pre-orders of the new model of its hit iPhone 4 smartphone topped one million units in the first 24 hours, a record for an Apple product. Netflix reversed heavy gains and closed 4.8 per cent lower. The firm announced it would not split its by-mail and streaming video rental services onto two websites.