Washington - Spa
U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday, as all three major indexes rose 3 percent or more, following a report from the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that showed the number of failing banks shrank for the first time in nearly five years. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the DAX in Germany and the CAC 40 in France both rising 1.1 percent. Asian markets also ended higher, led by the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rising 2 percent. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said new-home sales declined by 0.7% to an annual rate of 298,000 in July, marking the third consecutive month of declines. The figure was also slightly below forecasts. Meanwhile, The number of U.S. banks listed as “problems” by regulators declined at the end of June, the FDIC said. After having shut 394 big and small banks during the period of the financial crisis, the FDIC said its list of troubled financial institutions was finally slimming to 865 at the end of the second quarter from 888 after the first quarter. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery rose $1.02 to $85.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $34 to $1,827.30 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 322.11, or 3.0 percent, to 11,176.76. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 38.53, or 3.4 percent, to 1,162.35. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 100.68, or 4.3 percent, to 2,446.06.