Stocks Rise on EU Optimism, iPhone Launch

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A report suggesting Spain and the European Union may be close to forging a deal to help reduce the country's borrowing costs, along with the launch of Apple's latest iPhone, gave Wall Street a boost Friday.

Today's Markets

As of 1:50 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 28.6 points, or 0.21%, to 13625, the S&P 500 rose 3.7 points, or 0.25%, to 1464 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 13.1 points, or 0.41% to 3189.

The Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources, that the group is working on an economic reform package that would pave the way for purchases of Spain's debt. The purpose of buying the debt is to drive down the country's borrowing costs on secondary markets. Spain has reportedly been reluctant to agree to a bailout of this sort out of fear that the conditions would be excessively tight.

Market participants also cited the release of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) highly awaited iPhone 5 as a reason for the cheery mood on Wall Street. Expectations are for sales in the order of millions on opening day.

Also on the corporate front, Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) faced service issues in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However, the company said before 8:00 a.m. ET that services had been restored.

There were no major economic reports on tap Friday.

In commodities, oil ticked up after falling for four days in a row. The benchmark contract traded in New York climbed 72 cents, or 0.78%, to $93.16 a gallon. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline jumped 1.1% to $2.935 a gallon.

Gold rose $6.00, or 0.34%, to $1,776 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 jumped 0.94% to 2577, the English FTSE 100 fell slightly to 5853 and the German DAX gained 0.84% to 7452.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 0.25% to 9110 and the Chinese Hang Seng ticked up 0.7% to 20735.