U.S. stocks rally 3%, best day of month to 12,103.43

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U.S. stocks rally 3%, best day of month to 12,103.43
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks surged 3% Tuesday, posting their best day of the month amid low volumes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 337.17 points, or 2.9%, to 12,103.43. The S&P 500 added 35.95 points, or 3%, to 1,241.30, led by rallying financials. The Nasdaq Composite gained 80.59 points, or 3.2%, to 2,603.73. Behind the gains: a drop in yields at a Spanish bond auction and a surge in U.S. housing starts to an April 2010 rate, combined with better German sentiment data and talk of European banks buying sovereign debt. "The news today was pretty darn good," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors. "Europe can serve as a drag on U.S. economic output, but it can't turn a [U.S.] recovery into a recession."