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The bulls on Wall Street stormed into the month of August on Monday as the Dow surged more than 200 points in the wake of strong financial earnings out of Europe and manufacturing indicators in the U.S. and China that wasn’t as bad as some had feared.

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 208.44 points, or 1.99%, to 10674.38, the Standard & Poor's 500 added 24.26 points, or 2.20%, to 1125.86 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 40.66 points, or 1.80%, to 2295.36. The FOX 50 added 15.82 points, or 1.98%, to 815.12.

On the heels of its best month in exactly a year, the Dow’s triple-digit surge left the benchmark index at its highest close since May 14. The gains were widespread but economically-sensitive commodity plays saw the heaviest buying as crude oil soared above $80 a barrel and copper clinched a 14-week closing high.

Wall Street cheered solid results from European banking titans HSBC (NYSE:HBC) and BNP Paribas as well as stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data for July. Similarly, China reported manufacturing-sector growth that was viewed as being neither too hot, nor too cold.

“I think the overall trend is still to the upside. The growth of the economy may be slow and not the ‘V’ shape we were looking for. But every time we turn around it’s not quite as bad as we first thought,” NYSE trader Ben Willis of Sunrise Securities told FOX Business.

Wall Street’s impressive August debut comes after the Dow closed flat on Friday, capping off a 7%, or 692-point, July surge that represented the benchmark index’s best monthly performance since July 2009. It was also the blue-chip index’s first winning month since April.

“People are playing catch-up. They have to be involved. They can’t just be sitting in T-bills,” said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities.

All 30 Dow components contributed to the rally, led by a 4.8% jump for aluminum titan Alcoa (NYSE:AA) and a 3.8% rally for energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM). Tech heavyweights Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) also saw heavy buying. The index's laggards were defensive in nature, including Travelers (NYSE:TRV) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). 

“It’s huge. There are a few more chips being put on the table in the recovery theme,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital Group. “The market is finally focusing purely on earnings and turning a blind eye to the macro economic data that has been lukewarm, at best.”

Commodity-related stocks enjoyed the biggest bursts of buying as the global economic pessimism faded. The energy sector soared 3.5% and individual stocks like Hess (NYSE:HES) and Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) saw even bigger gains as crude oil soared above $80 and $81 a barrel. Crude jumped $2.39 a barrel, or 3.03%, to $81.34 -- its best close since May 4. The basic materials sector also rallied as copper jumped 2.36% a pound to $3.385 -- its highest settle since April 26. Gold gained $1.70 a troy ounce, or 0.14%, to $1,183.40.

Wall Street's rally gained momentum after the Institute for Supply Management said its July purchasing managers index came in at 55.5, below June's 56.2 but solidly beating expectations for a reading of 54.1. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The report helped boost manufacturers such as General Electric (NYSE:GE) and 3M (NYSE:MMM). 

Also, the Commerce Department said June constriction spending inched higher by 0.1%, surprising economists who had forecasted a drop of 0.7%. Housing-related stocks such as Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) received a lift from the data. 

European markets benefited from stronger-than-expected first-half results from HSBC, Europe’s largest bank. HSBC posted pre-tax first-half profits of $11.1 billion, blowing away forecasts from analysts for $9.1 billion. The bank saw its bad debts tumble to $7.5 billion -- the lowest level since the crisis began. HBC's stock soared 5.4% on Monday. Likewise, France’s BNP Paribas, the euro zone’s second-largest bank, posted a second-quarter profit of 2.1 billion euros, well above estimates for 1.7 billion euros.

Meanwhile, Wall Street’s economic worries were further soothed by the latest Chinese manufacturing data that showed activity fell to 51.2 in July. While that slightly missed estimates, it also eased concerns of China’s economy overheating and helped send the Shanghai Composite to a 10-week high.

Despite the bullish mood on Wall Street, some traders were still expressing caution, saying fears earlier this summer of a potential double-dip recession were not exaggerated.

“I don’t think it’s overblown. I think if anything, it’s a little bit of a tug-of-war between the two camps” about a double-dip recession, said Davis. “I’m just not buying that we are breaking out here on August 1st for the balance of the year.”

Corporate Movers

BP (NYSE:BP) is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether or not its employees profited from illegal trading activity in its stock, Reuters reported. The probe, which is said to be preliminary, is focusing on whether or not the energy giant properly disclosed risks associated with its operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO) is nearing a deal to unload struggling Newsweek magazine to Sidney Harman, The Wall Street Journal reported. Harman, the 91-year-old founder of an audio-equipment company, would commit to keeping most of Newsweek’s more than 300 employees and the Washington Post Co. would assume other long-term employee liabilities, the paper reported.

Ford’s (NYSE:F) stock climbed 3% as the auto maker’s credit rating was upgraded by S&P from B-minus to B-plus. The ratings company cited expectations for positive operating cash flow in 2010 amid the recovery in North America.

Loews (NYSE:L) beat the Street with an 8% rise in second-quarter profits to 87 cents a share. Analysts had been expecting the Tisch-family run conglomerate would earn just 75 cents a share. Loews said its revenue came in at $3.49 billion.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) posted a 21% jump in second-quarter profits to $2.00 a share, topping the Street’s view of just $1.67. The health insurer’s revenue rose 10% to $8.65 billion, narrowly exceeding forecasts for $8.61 billion. Humana also upped its 2010 view, now forecasting EPS of $5.65 to $5.75 on revenue of between $33.5 billion to $34.5 billion.  

Research in Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry service was scheduled to be shut down in the United Arab Emirates due to security concerns. The ban would stretch to foreign visitors to the UAE as well.

Global Markets

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 2.65% to 5397.11, France's CAC 40 surged 2.99% to 3752.03 and Germany's DAX added 2.34% to 6292.13. 

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.35% to 9570.31, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.82% to 21412.80 and China's Shanghai Composite close up 1.33% to 2672.52.