183 points, now back above the 11,000 benchmark. s&p 500 up 20. nasdaq added 46. best three-day stretch since august. three winning sessions in a row as the european debt situation starts to look a little bit more stable andรง investors appear relatively optimistic about tomorrow s monthly jobs report from the labor the president. that s the biggy. over in europe, the dutch approved an expansion of the eurozone bailout fund. the european central bank announced new liquidity measures to shield banks in the event of a greek default. and it held interest rates steady after an inflation uptick last month. meanwhile, retailers were mostly higher after reporting strong sales during the important back-to-school season. there you see some names. and apple shares down a fraction on the first day of trading after the death of co-founder and former ceo, steve jobs. that s it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to hardball.
the scene in kabul ended almost a full day after it began. six militants were killed after attackers shot at u.s. embassy, nato headquarters and afghan intelligence offices in kabul tuesday. the hours-long fighting that followed killed three afghan police officers and one civilian. the taliban claimed responsibility. the families of two american hikers held in iran for more than two years say they are overjoyed at reports the pair may be freed soon. josh fattal and shane bauer hiked along an unmarked border between iraq and iran. rescuers in southern india have managed to get all the survivors out of two trains that collided southwest of chinai. more than 60 were injured when the two trains collided. authorities say one of the trains smashed into the back of the other. the cause of the accident is under investigation. the latest u.s. census shows that more than 46 million americans were living below the poverty line last year. the nation s poverty rate has risen to 15%, t