Financial Markets Rally on Good News From Europe and US Economy

The economy's pace picked up in the third quarter, but it's still not fast enough to make a dent in unemployment.

U.S. economic growth increased at its fastest in a year in the third quarter as consumers and businesses set aside fears about the recovery and stepped up spending, creating momentum that could carry into the final three months of the year.

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And...

BRUSSELS — European leaders clinched a deal Thursday they hope will mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing after a night of tense negotiations to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against the market turmoil.

After months of dawdling and half-baked solutions, the leaders had been under immense pressure to finalize their plan to prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and to protect their currency union from unraveling.

World stock markets surged higher Thursday on the news. Oil prices rose above $92 per barrel while the euro gained strongly — a signal investors were relieved at the outcome of the contentious negotiations.

"We have reached an agreement, which I believe lets us give a credible and ambitious and overall response to the Greek crisis," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting ended early Thursday. "Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, it took us a full night. But the results will be a source of huge relief worldwide."

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