1 PERCENT

Wall Street gains 1 percent as IMF gives Europe hope

inShare.14Share thisEmailPrintRelated NewsYahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigns
Wed, Jan 18 2012
U.S. stock index futures gain, Yahoo in focus
Wed, Jan 18 2012
Wall Street rises but ends off highs as Citi sinks
Tue, Jan 17 2012
Stocks pare early gains; Europe worry persists
Tue, Jan 17 2012
Wall Street slips on reports of euro-zone downgrades
Fri, Jan 13 2012Analysis & OpinionYang’s goodbye finally frees Yahoo
BankUnited sends ominous sign with its white flag
Related VideoU.S. Morning Call: Shares up as Yang leaves Yahoo
Wed, Jan 18 2012
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, January 17, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid
By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK | Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:11pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks jumped to their highest since July on Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund sought to help countries hit by the European debt crisis, while forecast-beating earnings from Goldman Sachs dispelled some worries over bank profits.

The stronger-than-expected earnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) followed disappointing results from Citigroup (C.N) on Tuesday and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) last week.

Goldman shares shot up 6.8 percent to $104.31, while the S&P financial sector .GSPF rose 1.7 percent, leading the S&P 500 higher.

The banking sector has outperformed the broader market so far this year, but the financials sector was the S&P 500's weakest-performing one last year.

While the Goldman results supported financial shares, the IMF's willingness to bolster its crisis-fighting resources gave the sector a big push. Financials had suffered throughout 2011 on worries that Europe's debt crisis would hit banks globally.