Wall Street rockets to gains in last hour

After spending most of the day in the minus column, Wall Street climbed steeply in the last hour of trading to close with gains Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 68.9 points, or 0.63 percent, at 11,061. It had been down as many as 167 points.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,162.3. Technology stocks fared better than the overall market following news of a semiconductor deal. The Nasdaq ended the day up 27.1 points, or 1.10 percent, at 2,495.1.

Investors fear that Greece could default on its debt, leading to more disruptions in global financial markets. They're also concerned that rating agencies may cut the credit ratings of French banks because of their holdings of Greek bonds. That would mark the spread of Europe's debt troubles from peripheral countries like Greece and Ireland to the heart of Europe's financial system.

A default by Greece or one of the continent's other heavily indebted governments could ripple through the global markets and make it more difficult for other European countries to borrow money. Economists worry that an escalation of Europe's financial crisis could cause lending to seize up across the globe and tip the weakening U.S. economy into another recession.

Worries over Europe's debt crisis drove traders into Treasurys, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 1.87 percent, the lowest since the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis began keeping daily records in 1962. During the financial crisis in late 2008, the 10-year yield hit a low of 2.05 percent.