US stocks soar 3% on Franco-German crisis pledge

US stocks rallied sharply Monday after Germany and France pledged over the weekend to find a solid plan to address the eurozone debt crisis and shore up European banks within weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 330.06 points (2.97 percent) to finish at 11,433.18. The broader S&P 500 surged 39.43 points (3.41 percent) to 1,194.89, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 86.70 points (3.50 percent) to 2,566.05. Stocks piled up gains "after government leaders in Germany and France said they would develop a plan to recapitalize banks by the end of the month," said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Advisors. Trade was thinner than usual with much of the country, including federal and local governments, as well as the bond market, on holiday for Columbus Day. All 30 Dow blue chips ended higher just ahead of the third-quarter earnings season that kicks off Tuesday after the market closes, with Alcoa the first Dow component to report. Alcoa leaped 3.9 percent Monday, while Caterpillar jumped 4.8 percent. Financials benefited from hopes that Europe will boost the capital of its banks suffering from the public debt crises in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Bank of America surged 6.4 percent, JPMorgan Chase was up 5.2 percent and American Express added 4.7 percent. Apple leaped 5.1 percent after saying pre-orders of the new model of its hit iPhone 4 smartphone topped one million units in the first 24 hours, a record for an Apple product. Netflix reversed heavy gains and closed 4.8 percent lower. The firm announced it would not split its by-mail and streaming video rental services onto two websites.