U.S. markets surged on Friday as the Durable Goods report from the Census Bureau beat analysts' expectations. According to the report (which you can read here), durable goods orders fell 1.3 percent in August. Analysts had predicted they would decline by 1.4 percent. If you exclude transportation, however, durable goods orders actually rose 2 percent. Additionally, the figures for July orders were revised up by half a billion, which means July’s decline was lower than had been reported.

The Census Bureau also released its figures for new home sales in August today. Analysts had predicted the number would rise to 296,000. According to the official report (found here), sales rose only to 288,000—missing analysts expectations but still rising.

Apparently, this information was enough to inspire a rally on Wall Street as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.84 points to 10,860.29. The Nasdaq climbed 54.14 points to 2,381.22 and the S&P 500 was up 23.84 points to 1,148.67.

European markets finally reversed their downward trend on Friday as all closed up, with France’s CAC 40 gaining as much as 1.94 percent. Asian markets were mixed.

Stocks in the news: Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE: ADM), Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX).