US markets surge on latest eurozone hopes

The S&P 500 is 2.9% higher as shares surge after eurozone leaders set a deadline for resolving the single currency area's debt crisis.

The leading US index was up 34 points at 1,189 an hour after the open to trade above its 50-day moving average for the first time since the end of July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5%, or 286 points, to 11,389. In the UK, the FTSE 100 rose 1.9% to 5,404, led by a 4.6% rise in Arm Holdings and gains among miners and non-banking financials, with the Cac 40 up 1.5% in France and the German Dax rising 2.3% to 5,806. Commodities and the euro also rallied, with West Texas Intermediary crude oil up 2.5% to $85 a barrel and the euro trading at $1.36, a rise of 1.7%. Gold was up 2%...