* Global leaders agree to $1 trillion emergency package
* Boeing jumps after Goldman raises to 'buy'
* McDonald's rises after April sales data
* Dow up 3.9 pct, S&P 500 up 4.4 pct, Nasdaq up 4.8 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Adds indexes end four straight days of losses in third
paragraph)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks racked up their
biggest one-day gain in over a year on Monday as an agreement
on a $1 trillion emergency rescue package from the EU quelled
fears a new credit crisis would derail European economies.
The bailout fund approved by European leaders in the early
hours of Monday drove the S&P 500 to its highest opening jump
on record as indexes rushed back into positive territory for
the year after last week's sharp slide.
Monday's gain ended a harrowing four-day string of losses
for equities that had pushed major indexes down 7 percent to 9
percent. U.S. regulators are still seeking the cause of a
dizzying 9 percent intraday drop on Thursday.
Banks ranked among the top beneficiaries as the rescue deal
opened up short-term lending markets and calmed fears of a
possible Greek debt default. The S&P Financial index <.GSPF>
climbed 5.6 percent and was the top percentage gainer among S&P
sectors. Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> jumped 6.9 percent to
$17.30.
The package of standby funds and loan guarantees available
to euro-zone governments shut out of credit markets is on the
scale of the U.S. government's $700 billion Troubled Asset
Relief Program in 2008 designed to stave off the credit crisis
and calm swooning markets. For details, see [].
"This could've been another situation like when Bear
Stearns and Lehman Brothers failed, but the rescue plan shows
how serious Europe is about preventing that," said Alan Lancz,
president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates, an investment advisory
firm, in Toledo, Ohio.
QUESTIONS REMAIN
Some analysts cautioned, however, that longer-term questions
remained whether euro-zone nations saddled with high debt
loads would be able to manage their finances. The euro, which
rose more than 2 percent during the session, erased most of
those gains to trade slightly higher late in the day in New
York.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 404.71
points, or 3.90 percent, to 10,785.14. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 48.85 points, or 4.40 percent, to
1,159.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 109.03
points, or 4.81 percent, to 2,374.67.
All three indexes achieved their strongest gains since
March 23, 2009 when the United States released details of a
plan to buy toxic assets from banks after a market slide that
had pushed indexes to their lowest in 12 years.
"The market is telling us that this was the right move,"
said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, in
San Francisco. "The size of the bullet that we dodged here is
huge."
Howard Silverblatt, an analyst at Standard & Poor's, said
that based on records dating back to the late 1960s, the S&P
500's percentage and point gains at the open were both records.
The broad-based index jumped 52.97 points at the open -- a gain
of 4.8 percent.
Although advancing stocks on the New York Stock Exchange
outnumbered decliners by 19 to 1, volume was well below the
massive volumes traded during the sell-off on Thursday and
Friday.
The CBOE VIX volatility index <.VIX>, known as Wall
Street's fear gauge, fell 29.6 percent -- the largest
percentage drop in its history -- to end at 28.84 after leaping
to its highest level in more than a year on Friday.
In another bullish sign, 88 percent of stocks in the S&P
500 remained in a long-term uptrend as of Friday, with their
50-day moving average above their 200-day moving average,
according to Concept Capital, a New York-based brokerage.
TECH SHARES LEAD
Technology shares were also among the top gainers after the
Nasdaq entered a technical correction on Friday, falling more
than 10 percent from a peak on April 23.
Shares of Apple Inc <AAPL.O> jumped 7.7 percent to $253.99,
while Google Inc <GOOG.O> rose 5.8 percent to $521.65.
Boeing Co <BA.N> provided one of the biggest boosts to the
Dow, climbing 6.4 percent to $71 after Goldman Sachs raised its
rating on the stock. The top contributor to the blue-chip Dow's
advance was manufacturer Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N>, which jumped
7.4 percent to $66.69. []
McDonald's Corp <MCD.N> increased 3.8 percent to $70.58
after posting a rise in its April same-store sales.
[]
Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd <STP.N> shot up 11.8 percent
to $11.73 after saying first-quarter revenue would beat Wall
Street's expectations. []
On the downside, Dean Foods Co <DF.N> dropped 28.4 percent
to $10.47 after posting first-quarter earnings that missed
estimates and withdrew its full-year profit outlook.
[]
About 12.49 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, compared with
last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 19 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, roughly seven
stocks rose for every one that fell.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Additional reporting by Ryan
Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
