U.S. stocks rally on Europe hopes; Dow gains 272

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U.S. stocks rally on Europe hopes; Dow gains 272
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rallied Monday, ending near session highs, spurred by hopes that European policymakers were coalescing around a new plan to keep the sovereign debt crisis from spreading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 272.38 points, or 2.5%, to 11,043.86, led by a nearly 7% surge in the shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and a 4.6% rally in Bank of America Corp. shares. The S&P 500 ended up 26.52 points, or 2.3%, to 1,162.95, led by a 4.4% rally in financial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite gained 33.46 points, or 1.4%, to 2,516.69 points after spending much of the session in the red.