New York: Hopes that Europe will finally take the bold steps needed to stem its financial crisis sent stocks higher yesterday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 65 points, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso presented a plan to strengthen weak European banks and lower Greece's debt burden. It's being seen as the strongest effort yet to address a debt crisis that threatens to push the global economy into another recession.

The plan comes a day after Slovakia rejected a bill to expand the powers of Europe's financial rescue programme. That temporarily complicated efforts to deal with the debt problems.

The Dow rose 56 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 11,474 at 10am. JPMorgan Chase rose 2.7 per cent, the most of the 30 companies that make up the index. Wal-Mart Stores had the second-biggest gain, 2.6 per cent. The giant retailer is holding its annual meeting with analysts, where it is expected to discuss plans to reverse a sales slump at its namesake US stores.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 29, or 1.1 per cent, to 2,611.

Meanwhile, the European Commission recommended Serbia win candidate status and promised European Union entry talks would start once the Balkan state makes ‘further progress' in ties with the breakaway province of Kosovo.

Serbia will join other former Yugoslav republics in moving toward the world's largest trading bloc. Montenegro joins the Republic of Macedonia in being ready to start negotiations, while Croatia is set to join on July 1, 2013, the Brussels-based commission said yesterday. The recommendations need approval by all 27 EU members in December.

Waning support

Support in Serbia for membership fell to 46 per cent in September from 53 per cent in June, the lowest reading since polling on the subject was introduced in 2002, said Djelic on September 30, without providing poll details.

EU ambassador to Serbia Vincent Degert, who called the opinion a ‘milestone,' said Serbia has a ‘few more weeks, a few more months' to continue talks with Kosovo and implement agreements that ‘have been achieved.'