U.S. Stocks Finish Higher on Euro-Zone Economic Optimism

4:09 PM, Mar 8, 2012 -- U.S. stocks finished up Thursday on optimism that Greece's crucial debt swap was well received. The swap closed at 3 p.m Eastern, and while official results won't be available until tomorrow, preliminary rumors are that the swap was a success.

According to the Wall Street Journal, private-sector creditors representing more than 75% of outstanding Greek debt have agreed to exchange their holdings for new debt.

Other good news out of the euro-zone also contributed to today's rally. Data showed that German production rose 1.6% during January, while European Central Bank President Mario Draghi publicly stated that recent surveys are confirming the euro-area economy is stabilizing.

Stateside, today the Labor Department announced that applications for unemployment insurance payments during the week ended March 3 rose by 8,000 over the prior week to 362,000 claims, more than the 252,000 claims economists in a Bloomberg News survey, on average, had been expecting. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, was little changed at 355,000 from 354,750, which were the fewest since March 2008.

In company news, Stamps.com (STMP) rallied after the company disclosed in a filing that it signed an agreement resolving all outstanding patent litigation with PSI Systems.

Optimism over the Greek deal proved positive for gold futures, gold for April delivery added $14.80, or 0.9%, to end at $1,698.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude-oil futures rose 42 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $106.58 a barrel.

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

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 70.61 (+0.55%) to 12,907.94

S&P 500 up up 13.28 (+0.98%) to 1,365.91

NASDAQ Composite Index up 34.71 (+1.18%) to 2,970.42

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei 225 up 2.01%.

Hang Seng Index up 1.32%.

China Shanghai Composite Index up 1.06%.

FTSE 100 up 1.18%.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) MWA, Sells U.S. Pipe Unit for $90 Mln

(+) JOE, Names new CFO

(+) CGA, Chairman and CEO Purchases 63,158 Shares

(+) STLY, Expects $40 mln Distribution Related to Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) NAV, Reports Wider-Than-Expected Q1 Net Loss

(-) XOM, Expects Reduced FY12 Production; Sets $37 Billion Cap-Ex Budget