国际英语新闻：Greece rescue hope sends Dow back above 10,000

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Dow returned back to above 10,000 points level while U.S. stocks pared February's losses on Tuesday as market sentiment turned around on the hope that the European Union would reach out to debt-troubled Greece.

All major indexes gained ground. The Dow Jones jumped 150.25, or 1.52 percent, to 10,058.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rallied 13.78, or 1.30 percent, to 1,070.52 and the Nasdaq gained 24.82, or 1.17 percent, to 2,150.87.

More than three stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.2 billion shares compared with 1.1 billion Monday.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, February 9, 2010

Stocks opened higher on Tuesday on reports that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet is changing his travel schedule to attend a meeting of EU officials on Thursday and that plans are being developed to rescue Greece.

Market sentiment was further boosted in the afternoon by a Wall Street Journal report that Germany is considering a plan with its European Union partners to offer Greece and other troubled euro zone members loan guarantees in an effort to calm market fears of a default. Stocks held their gains and largely fluctuated in narrow range in late trading.

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, February 9, 2010.

Concerns over Greece's mounting debt burden, and that of other weak members of the 16-nation euro zone, have been weighing on U.S. stocks for weeks.

On Tuesday, Greece took its latest steps to calm markets, pledging to increase retirement ages, raise fuel taxes and accelerate reforms. However, a strike over the government's new austerity measures is still expected to proceed on Wednesday.

Despite the cancellation of the Congress hearing, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will still release his testimony on the central bank's exit strategy as scheduled on Wednesday.

Many expect that if Fed believes the economic recovery is sufficient enough, it will consider a gradual increase in the interest rate on excess reserves, the interest Fed pays banks on money they leave on reserve at the central bank which currently stands at 0.25 percent.

Some investors also bought into the market after recent big sell-offs. U.S. stocks dropped on Monday for the third time in four sessions, with the Dow finished below 10,000 for the first time since early November.

On the economic news front, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday that U.S. wholesale inventories fell by 0.8 percent in December, while sales increased by 0.8 percent. Wall Street economists had expected a 0.5 percent increase in December wholesale inventories.

The dollar continued to weaken against the euro and touched new lows in more than two months on Tuesday, pushing up commodities prices. Energy and material stocks were among Tuesday's best performers.

Caterpillar was the biggest gainer among the 30 Dow component stocks on Tuesday. Its shares rose 2.75 dollars, or 5.42 percent, to 53.53 dollars.

Coca-Cola Co. shares gained 2.58 percent on Tuesday after reporting a fourth-quarter profit in line with analysts expectations. Its revenue beat forecasts, boosted by an increase in global sales.