U.S. stocks rallied broadly Wednesday in the third biggest one day gain of the year, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above the key 10000 level.

Financial stocks, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, led the climb, boosted by a rosy earnings forecast from State Street and as details on euro-zone bank stress tests removed some uncertainty.

The Dow climbed 274.66 points, or 2.82%, to 10018.28, its biggest one day gain since May 27 and highest close since June 28. The measure is now up 2.5% for the month but still down 3.93% for the year. All 30 of the measure's components rose.

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq) was the measure's top performer with a jump of 1.14, or 5.3%, to 22.48. The Dow's financial components were also strong, with J.P. Morgan up 1.82, or 5%, to 38.15, and Bank of America up 65 cents, or 4.6%, to 14.71. The sector was boosted by a projection from money manager State Street for second quarter profit well above analysts' forecasts. State Street, which isn't a Dow component, leapt 3.29, or 9.9%, to 36.63.

Also lifting financials, Europe's banking supervisor named the 91 banks that it will test for resilience to further market and credit risks and laid out the key features included in the tests. The banks are being tested individually but following a common set of criteria.

The results will be made public July 23. Investors found it encouraging to learn more of the details about the test, as uncertainty about it had been weighing on financial stocks in Europe as well as in the U.S. The Nasdaq Composite rose 65.59, or 3.13%, to 2159.47.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 32.21, or 3.13%, to 1060.27. All of the measure's categories rose, led by the financial sector, which leapt more than 4%.

A rally in banking shares, powered by the hope that impending bank stress test results may not be as bad as feared, helped European stocks turn higher Wednesday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.4% to 246.06. Notable financial sector gainers included lenders with significant exposure to so called peripheral European countries.

Societe Generale shares rose 7% and Spain's Santander gained 6.5%. As for the major regional benchmarks, the French CAC-40 index added 1.8% to 3,483.44, the German DAX index gained 0.9% to 5,992.86 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed up 1% at 5,014.82. The Spanish Ibex 35 index gained 3.7% to 9,971.00.

Asian stocks largely declined Wednesday after weak U.S. data refueled worries about the strength of the global economic recovery while technology shares across the region fell, unimpressed by Samsung Electronics' forecast of a record operating profit.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.6% and Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.2%. China's Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.5% higher after enduring a choppy trading session, as gains in consumer and cement stocks offset broad declines in banks.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%. Chinese banks declined in Hong Kong and underperformed in Shanghai on concerns about market liquidity ahead of Agricultural Bank of China's listing and after Bank of China's recently announced plans for a rights issue. Furthermore, the Chinese language newspaper Ming Pao reported that Industrial & Commercial Bank of China the mainland's biggest lender by assets might raise up to CNY45 billion in a rights issue.

ICBC dropped 0.5% and Bank of China ended flat in Shanghai. In Hong Kong, they dropped 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively.

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange bounced back from early losses to end higher Wednesday, tracking a recovery in the euro and gains in U.S. equity markets.

Copper rose to an eight-day high of $6,690 a metric ton and closed 0.5% higher. Inventory declines in copper and nickel gave them a lift, while other metals mostly followed copper's lead. U.S. equities rose on better earnings forecasts for the financial sector, sending a wave of confidence through markets that lifted the euro off its lows against the dollar and helped metals recoup losses made on a poor showing by Asian equity markets overnight.

Crude oil futures followed U.S. equities higher Wednesday, snapping a six session streak of losses.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled $2.09, or 2.9%, higher at $74.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 2.9% at $73.51 a barrel.

Gold futures rose as the optimistic economic sentiment that boosted commodities and equities spread to precious metals.

The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, settled $3.80, or 0.3% higher, at $1,198.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures continued higher in electronic activity after the settlement, breaking above $1,200.

Provided by Morrison Securities