European relief, retail sales spark stocks

The Dow jumped 183 points Thursday after the European Central Bank moved to support that region's lenders and U.S. retailers reported stronger September sales.

The European loans are also meant to help protect the banks if Greece defaults on its debt. If that happens, the value of Greek bonds held by those banks would be likely to drop sharply, weakening the banks' balance sheets and making it harder for them to lend.

Meanwhile, Target Corp., Nordstrom Inc., Macy's Inc. and other U.S. retailers reported sales that beat Wall Street's expectations. While some of the sales were driven by deep discounts, analysts said the higher sales suggested the U.S. economy was not in another recession.

In trading Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 183.38 points, or 1.68 percent, to 11,123.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 20.94, or 1.83 percent, to 1,164.97. The Nasdaq composite index was up 46.31, or 1.88 percent, to 2,506.82.

It was the first time the Dow rose by more than 100 points for three straight days since a rally that began Aug. 11 and ended with a 763-point gain. The Dow has soared 434 points since Tuesday. -- AP