US stocks jump after Black Friday weekend and hopeful euro zone proposals

Wall Street started off positively on Monday, with stocks soaring due to a strong start to the holiday shopping season and hopes over new euro zone proposals, the Associated Press reported. This comes just days after American stocks suffered their worst Thanksgiving week performance since 1942.

Reports are showing a record number of shoppers going to malls or buying gifts online after Thanksgiving this year, jump-starting the holiday season. For the last six years, Black Friday has been the United States’ biggest sales day of the year, the AP reported.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Averages was up more than 300 points by midday Monday trading. Black Friday sales saw an increase of over 6.6 percent from last year, and retail sales were up over 16 percent throughout the weekend, which totaled $52 billion, or approximately $400 per person, CBS News reported.

US stocks also rallied due to high hopes over fresh solutions to the euro zone crisis expected to come out today, Reuters reported. This was pushed ahead by Germany and France stepping up to acquire powers to reject nation budgets in the euro zone that breach European Union rules ahead of an EU summit on Dec. 9, Reuters reported.

"The mood has changed over the weekend on hopes for progress toward a lasting resolution to the building debt crisis," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York, Reuters reported. "Investors seem happy enough to take risks despite the fact that little has been substantiated this morning."

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Investors’ outlook also turned up as reports from an Italian newspaper said the International Monetary Fund was preparing a rescue bailout plan for Italy, Reuters reported. However, the IMF denied the report.

European markets rose as well with hopes with hopes of new approaches to solving the debt crisis, the AP reported. Stocks in Italy, Germany and France were up more than 4 percent, and the euro also rose too.