By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, US - The Dow posted its largest one-day percentage gain in three months on Tuesday, boosted by reports of an aid plan for heavily indebted Greece.

A senior German ruling coalition source said euro zone governments have decided in principle to help Greece, comments that calmed investors worried about a threat to global economic stability.

"There's a relief that something can be worked out to prevent a collapse of their bond market," said Ben Halliburton,chief investment officer at Tradition Capital Management in Summit, New Jersey.

"The question is, will the other countries be willing to step in."

Gains on Wall Street were broad-based, but shares of commodity-related companies shot higher as a decline in the dollar lifted prices of oil and gold. Shares of Chevron gained 1.7 percent to US$71.31.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 150.25 points, or 1.52 percent, to 10,058.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 13.78 points, or 1.30 percent, to 1,070.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 24.82 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2,150.87.

The Dow saw its biggest daily percentage gain since Nov. 9.

Concern over rising debt in Greece and some other euro zone countries have sapped confidence in equity markets in recent weeks, with the Dow average closing below 10,000 on Monday for the first time since November.

Industrial shares also jumped after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the sector, saying share prices should catch up to an improving business environment. Caterpillar Inc was up 5.4 percent at US$53.53.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp advanced 1.3 percent to US$65.20, while oil futures gained US$1.86 to US$73.75 per barrel.

In earnings news, shares of Coca-Cola Co rose 2.6 percent to US$54.01 after the soft-drink company reported results.

After the close, shares of Walt Disney Co gained 2.8 percent to US$30.30 after the company reported earnings that beat expectations.

Total volume of about 9.49 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 4 to 1 on on the NYSE and by 19 to 7 on Nasdaq. --REUTERS