EU pledge to support Greece helps spark market rally

Relief about Europe's pledge to support Greece sent the stock market charging higher Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 106 points as confidence grew that aid to Greece would extinguish one of the several threats that investors see to an economic recovery.

The market's advance was broad-based, but energy and materials stocks logged some of the biggest gains after oil prices rose for a fourth day and a tame report on inflation in China suggested the country wouldn't have to move more aggressively to slow its economy.

China's rapid economic expansion has been driving up demand for natural resources, and the benign signal on inflation there sent shares of materials companies higher. Encouraging news about jobs in the Uniated States also supported the market.

The Dow rose 105.81 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,144.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.34, or 1 percent, to 1,078.47. The Nasdaq composite index rose 29.54, or 1.4 percent, to 2,177.41. - AP