US Stocks rocket on Europe hopes (ext)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks rallied strongly Monday as investors cheered a pledge from European leaders to unveil a plan for solving the eurozone's debt crisis by the end of the month.

The optimism pushed the euro up nearly 2% against the dollar. Commodities also joined in the party, with oil and silver prices gaining 3%.

Over the weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they have come up with a plan to get Europe's festering debt problems under control. The plan, which will include recapitalizing European banks, will be presented to world leaders at the G20 meeting in Cannes Nov. 3 and 4.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 329 points, or 2.9%, to close at 11,433. The S&P 500 (SPX) added 39 points, or 3.4%, to 1,195. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose 86 points, or 3.5%, 2,566.

"The Europe debt crisis cloud has been hanging over the market for a year-and-a-half now," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. "The risks and worries have been intensifying over the last couple of weeks, but after this weeknd, the market is expecting something big and concrete that will put the crisis behind us."

While talk of a strategy is encouraging, the lack of details is still concerning.

"There is still a healthy bill of skepticism because we've been here before -- many times before," said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets in London. "All Merkel and Sarkozy have done is reiterated their statements from earlier, and kicked the can down to Cannes."

The dollar lost ground against the British pound and Japanese yen.

Oil for November delivery rose $2.43 to $85.41 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery added $35 to $1,670.80 an ounce.