Stock rise on European debt sales; Chinese growth

Stocks are rising strongly at midday on signs of resilience in Europe's debt markets and a gradual slowdown in China.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index topped 1,300 today for the first time since July, before the European debt crisis set off months of shocking volatility.

Debt auctions by Spain, Greece and the European bailout fund drew strong interest, easing fears that recent credit-rating downgrades would prevent them from obtaining needed funds.

China's government said that growth there slowed in the fourth quarter to 8.9 percent, better than the 8.7 percent that analysts had predicted.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 119 points, or 1 percent, at 12,540, shortly past noon. The S&P 500 is up 11, or 0.9, at 1,300. The Nasdaq is up 30, or 1.1 percent, at 2,741.