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Stocks Soar on Global Bank Deal

Dow spikes nearly 500 points.

Six major central banks took coordinated action Wednesday to prevent the mushrooming European debt crisis from overtaking the global economy—and the markets love it. In the U.S., the Dow Jones spiked nearly 500 points, climbing back into positive territory for 2011. In the agreement, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank said they would lower the cost of existing U.S. dollar swaps by 50 basis points from Dec. 5 until Feb. 1, which will make it cheaper for banks to get U.S. dollar liquidity when they need it. European stock indexes jumped on the news as well, and the euro rallied against the dollar.