US stocks skyrocket as Euro leaders agree to expand relief measures

Washington - Major Wall Street indices took off Friday, marking the biggest June gain in over a decade, as German Chancelor Angela Merkel agreed to expand measures to help Spain and Italian banks.

At a summit in Brussels, Eurozone leaders said they would relax conditions on the emergency loans for Spanish banks and deliberate on ways to help struggling Italian banks.

Investors also gained confidence as the leaders agreed to speed up efforts to create a single body to oversee all Eurozone banks.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 277.83 points, or 2.20 per cent, to 12,880.09. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 33.12 points, or 2.49 per cent, to 1,362.16. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 85.56 points, or 3 per cent, to 2,935.05.

The US currency dropped against the euro to 79.09 euro cents from 80.36 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar rose against the Japanese currency to 79.87 yen from 79.46 yen.//DPA