US stocks rose on Thursday after a Wall Street Journal report that Bank of America is in talks to buy mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp sent financial stocks higher. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 73.64 points, or 0.58 percent, at 12,808.95.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.78 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,413.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.15 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,476.70. Shares of Countrywide surged more than 60 percent to $8.23 on the NYSE.