U.S. Stocks Gain as Dollar Falls on Central Bank Optimism

U.S. stocks surged, sending benchmark indexes to the highest levels of the month, while the dollar slid amid reports central banks may take steps to help economies battered by Europe’s debt crisis. Treasuries retreated while commodities gained.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.1 percent at 4 p.m. in New York while the dollar weakened against all 16 major peers, with the euro increasing 0.6 percent to $1.2633. Ten-year Treasury yields climbed four basis points to 1.64 percent, while the rate on Spain’s 10-year bond rose to a euro-era record after Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating. The S&P GSCI commodities index rose 0.9 percent as natural gas surged 14 percent on a smaller-than-forecast gain in U.S. supplies.