U.S. Stocks Surge Over Bullish Economic Data; Reduced Expectations of Greek Default

4:09 PM, Feb 16, 2012 -- After a dismal outlook in the pre-market session, U.S. stocks surged Thursday, with the Dow closing up more than 100 points, boosted by improving sentiment over Greece's debt crisis, and a four-year low for U.S. jobless claims.

Stocks started to move off their lows shortly after 8:30 am Eastern Time when the Labor Department said new applications for jobless benefits dropped to a four-year low. Claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly fell to 348,000 during the week ended Feb. 11, 13,000 fewer people than last week and well below the 365,000 gain that experts in a Bloomberg News survey, on average, were expecting.

Equities also got some bullish news after a new report on housing starts said builders broke ground on more new homes in January, aided by a surge in new rental housing and warmer than usual weather in much of the county last month. Starts rose 1.5% to an annualized 699,000 homes, exceeding the 675,000 median rate anticipated in a Reuters survey.

A monthly assessment of manufacturing found rising orders and increased sales activity along the mid-Atlantic coast, including eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. The regional general economic index rose to a 10.2 reading in January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said, up from 7.3 last month and beating the median 9.0 reading economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast. Readings higher than zero indicate expansion.

Sparking some optimism over the debt-situation in Europe was a preview article in the German newspaper Die Welt that claimed the European Central Bank would swap its Greek bonds for newly issued ones that are "likely further out in maturity, to give Greece some breathing room."

In company news, Shares of LEAP Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) climbed following a Wall Street Journal report that the company is currently in talks with AT&T over a possible sale.

Shares of CVR Energy (CVI) rallied after billionaire Carl Icahn announces a $30 per share tender offer for the company, according to Bloomberg.

Gold ended higher, after staging a last minute comeback. Gold for April delivery climbed 30 cents to settle at $1,728.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil ended at a six-week high of $102.31 a barrel.

Here's where markets stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 123.13 (+0.96%) to 12,904.08

S&P 500 up 14.81 (+1.10%) to 1,358.04

NASDAQ Composite up 44.02 (+1.51%) to 2,959.85

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei down 0.24%.

Hang Seng down 0.41%.

Shanghai Composite down 0.42%.

FTSE-100 down 0.12%.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) BDSI, Receives first $15 million milestone payment from Endo Pharmaceuticals.

(+) STFC, $2.49 a share Q4 profit salvages tough 2011 for insurer.

(+) MSFT, Announces msnNOW

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) AMZN, Morgan Stanley downgrade to Equalweight from Overweight.

(-) HDY, New well off the coast of Guinea comes up empty.

(-) STRA, Reports Declining Revenues, Income.