Wall Street rallies on European summit hopes

Wall Street rose on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow and the broader S&P 500 up in four of last five sessions, as investors were expecting a comprehensive resolution to euro zone's debt problems on the EU summit. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 162.42 points, or 1.39 percent, to 11,869.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 12.95 points, or 1.05 percent, to 1,242.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 12. 25 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,650.67. As the European leaders are meeting in Brussels, trying to achieve a definitive solution to the region's debt woes, news from Europe still set the tone for the U.S. market. Encouragingly, German lawmakers voted 503 to 89 with four abstentions in favor of leveraging the European bailout fund to make it more effective, which is believed to add to the chance for EU leaders to seal a deal during the meeting. Stocks got a lift in afternoon trading, pushing major indexes to session highs, after a report said China has agreed to invest in Europe's bailout fund. With more and more details revealed about the possible plan, the gains in equities hold to the last minute. According to headlines coming from Europe, European leaders intended to multiply their rescue fund fourfold to one trillion euros and press Greece's creditors to accept losses of over 50 percent on their bond holdings, but the details of their plan to end the debt crisis are still not fully formed. Wednesday's positive economic data added to the gains in the market. According to the Commerce Department, demand for long- lasting manufactured goods recorded their largest gain in six months in September, suggesting the U.S. economy was gaining some momentum. Data showed that durable goods orders excluding transportation component rose 1.7 percent after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in August, much bigger than the 0.4 percent rise anticipated by the market. Meanwhile, a separate report showed sales of new homes rose in September after four straight monthly declines. Among stocks in focus, Boeing jumped nearly 4.5 percent after the aircraft maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results while Amazon slumped more than 12 percent after the online retailer cut its forecasts for the quarter.