Upbeat news on the home front and cheers from a debt-drunk Europe sobering to its problem extended a fourth-quarter market rally yesterday — pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index up 10.9 percent since Sept. 30.
The robust fourth-quarter performance comes after a strong third quarter, giving both Wall Street and Main Street a sense that the economy may be finally turning a corner.
Relieved investors here and abroad went on buying sprees for all types of assets after officials in Europe agreed during a marathon summit to sign their first concrete pact for ways to bail out debt-laden banks and governments.
All 17 nations that share the euro agreed to a treaty that would create the region’s first fiscal body to oversee budgets of the nations. Nine other neighboring countries are still reviewing whether to come aboard, while England has declined to get involved, as it has since the euro was created a decade ago.
The Dow Jones industrial average snapped back into the 12,000-point territory, rising 1.6 percent, to 12,184.26. The Dow is ahead 11.7 percent for the fourth quarter to date, and 5.2 percent year to date.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.7 percent yesterday to 1,255.19 and is nearly break-even for the year.
The Nasdaq jumped 1.9 percent to 2,646.85, and is up 9.6 percent for the fourth quarter.
Banks here and abroad were some of the best performers, since their fortunes depend on resolving the toxic European government debt on their books.
Some analysts believe investor optimism may be short-lived. “The fiscal agreement will help, but not for long,” said CEO George Feiger of Contango Capital Advisors in San Francisco.