U.S. stocks rose sharply Thursday as investors bet on a resolution to Ireland's debt situation and watched General Motors' shares climb on their return to the Big Board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175 points, or 1.6%, to 11182 in afternoon trading. If that holds, it would mark the blue chip index's first gain in three days. Alcoa led the Dow's gains, jumping 4.1%, while Boeing rose 2.6% and Caterpillar added 2.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 share index gained 1.7% to 1199.

The materials, energy and industrials sectors led the broad index's gains as worries diminished about China and the scope of its inflation cooling measures. The technology oriented Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.9% to 2522. General Motors' shares, trading under the ticker symbol "GM," were recently up 6.2% at $35.06, vanquishing any fears that the shares had been priced too high. Traders said that Thursday's offering elicited an unusual flurry of excitement on the New York Stock Exchange.

Developments abroad also contributed to the market's gains. Ireland's central bank governor said negotiations with officials from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will likely lead to Ireland receiving a loan on the order of tens of billions of euros from its European Union counterparts. The officials are in Dublin to examine the country's finances and banks. On the economic front, initial unemployment claims rose a smaller than expected amount.The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia survey registered its best gain in activity since December.

European markets

European stocks rallied Thursday, with Germany's benchmark index surging to a new 2010 closing high, propelled by expectations of a bailout package for Ireland and strong U.S. economic data. The Stoxx Europe 600 index jumped 1.4% to end at 271.15, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 2% to 6,832.11. Gains were led by a nearly 5% rally in shares of Infineon Technologies AG, which continued to benefit from news that it will pay its first dividend in a decade.

Car shares also had a strong session following the successful trading debut of General Motors Co. in New York. German luxury car maker BMW AG gained nearly 4% and Daimler AG added 3.1%. In Paris, PSA Peugeot Citroen rallied 5.6% and rival Renault SA jumped 3.7%. Ireland's debt and banking predicament once again stole the spotlight. Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan said that Dublin is likely to tap loans totaling billions of euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund following talks that started Thursday. The news raised hopes that a bailout for Ireland will be agreed soon.

In Dublin, the ISEQ index ranked as one of Europe's best performers, rallying 2.6% to 2,761.37. The Irish benchmark was led by a more than 6% gain for building-materials group CRH PLC, which ING upgraded to buy from hold. Allied Irish Banks shares rose 4.5% Thursday; they have tumbled 51% over the pats three months. Among other indexes, Greece's ASE Composite index rose 2.6%, France's CAC 40 index jumped 2% to 3,867.97, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 1.3% to 5,768.71.

Asian markets

Asian stock markets ended mostly higher with Chinese stocks rebounding after Beijing's announced inflation cooling measures proved less harsh than expected, while Japanese stocks rose sharply as the yen's decline against the euro spurred buying interest. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.1% to 10,013.63, its first finish above 10,000 since June. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.8%, while Korea's Kospi was up 1.6%.

In China, the market recovered from a string of recent losses after the State Council Wednesday said it will initiate a series of measures to stabilize commodity and energy prices, mainly through administrative control. Automobile and resource linked stocks led the gains. SAIC Motor Corp. rose 4.9% and Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chalco, rose 2.1% in Shanghai, while FAW Car rose 3% and Yunnan Copper gained 2.6% in Shenzhen. In Hong Kong, Jiangxi Copper jumped 5.3% and Dongfeng Motor Group. surged 9.3%.

The Tokyo market came to life in late morning, partly as the yen's fall against the euro triggered futures buying. Traders also said a broader improvement in sentiment spurred sharp rises in banking shares. Mizuho Financial Group gained 3.9%, Nomura Holdings 4.7% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 3.4%.

Base metals

Base metals closed higher on the London Metal Exchange Thursday, reversing some of their steep losses from recent sessions as part of a broad rally across the commodity markets. LME three month copper ended the day up 2.9% as the euro rallied against the dollar and concerns eased over euro-zone sovereign debt and a potential interest rate hike in China. Precious metals, oil and soft commodities all traded higher throughout the day.

The base metals were boosted in Europe's mid-afternoon trading hours by an upbeat report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, which said its November index of general business activity came in at 22.5, from 1.0 in October. Crude futures moved higher Thursday, bouncing back from four-straight days of losses as fears over euro-zone sovereign debt subsided. Light, sweet crude for December delivery settled $1.41 higher at $81.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract expires at settlement Friday. Oil prices rebounded after falling to just shy of $80 a barrel Wednesday, the lowest price in nearly a month.

Comex gold futures settled in positive territory as a weaker dollar and a more certain outlook for Ireland's debt woes drew investors back into the precious metals market. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, settled up 1.2%, or $16.10, at $1,353 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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