US Stocks Soar, Dow Up 200 Points

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 208 points on the first day of trading in August. Investors digested positive economic reports, and strong corporate quarterly earnings, sending the Dow up 2 percent, the S&P 500 Index up 2.2 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite higher by 1.8 percent.

Two major European banks reported markedly higher earnings, including the U.K.’s HSBC Holdings and France’s BNP Paribas. Crude oil prices surged past $80 per barrel, fueling hopes of a stable global economic rebound that will give rise to greater demand for petroleum. The higher oil prices extended gains by ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

However, shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Ltd. tumbled by 1.7 percent after the United Arab Emirates declared that it would ban all users of Web-enabled BlackBerry smartphones in the country due to supposed security concerns.