Hopes for resolving Europe mess lift stocks

European leaders moved more decisively Wednesday to control the region's debt crisis, sending stocks sharply higher. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 102 points and closed at its highest level since late August.

The Dow had been up 209 points, but gave up half that gain in the last hour of trading. Late-day reversals have become increasingly common in the market. So have point changes of more than 100 points.

"Unfortunately I think we're stuck with the wild volatility that we've had for some period of time," said Dennis Wassung, a portfolio manager at Salem, Mass.-based Cabot Money Management.

The Dow rose 102.55 points, or 0.90 percent, to close at 11,518.85. The average is now down just 0.5 percent for the year. The Dow has closed up or down 100 points in 11 of the past 13 trading days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.71, or 0.98 percent, to 1,207.25. It's down 4 percent for 2011. The Nasdaq composite index rose 21.70, or 0.84 percent, to 2,604.73.

The Dow has rallied 8.1 percent since Oct. 4, when it hit its lowest point of the year. The S&P has risen 9.8 percent, its biggest seven-day jump since March 2009, when the market hit 12-year lows. On Oct. 4 it neared bear market territory.

Much of the surge in stocks was due to new efforts by European leaders to contain their debt problems. Wednesday, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso presented a plan to strengthen European banks and lower Greece's debt, and Slovakian political parties were said to have agreed to approve a deal to strengthen Europe's bailout program.