US stocks leap on EU deal, strong GDP

US stocks have soared on opening after EU leaders finally agreed a plan to contain the Greek debt crisis and US third-quarter GDP growth came in at 2.5 per cent, stanching recession fears. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 242.30 points, or 2.04 per cent, to 12,111.34 after about 15 minutes of trade overnight. The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 31.13 points, or 2.51 per cent, to 1273.13, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 65.01, or 2.45 per cent, to 2715.68. A late-night deal that aims to stabilise Greek finances and avoid a sovereign default, while strengthening European Union mechanisms to prevent any more contagion, charged the markets that for weeks were on edge over a possible collapse of the single-currency zone and a banking meltdown. Meanwhile the first official estimate of US economic growth for the third quarter quelled worries that the economy had deteriorated to the edge of plunging into a second recession. The figures showed consumer spending surging from the turgid second quarter.