All three U.S. stock indexes closed the first half of 2012 up more than 5 percent. (Creative Commons)

The Dow Jones Industrial average is up 5.4 percent for the first half of the year, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 rose 8.3 percent.  The Nasdaq saw the largest jump at 12.66 percent, The New York Times reported.

Despite making gains for the year, all three indexes closed out the second quarter below first quarter highs, CNN reported. Fears over economic instability in Europe plunged stocks down nearly 10 percent in early June.

But a deal among European leaders to help struggling eurozone banks appeared to temporarily calm investors’ fears over the eurozone situation. Under the deal, leaders agreed to create a single supervising body to aid the eurozone banks in need of assistance without adding to governments’ debt.

"It's an important step," Investec bond analyst Elisabeth Afseth said. "You have to be a little bit concerned where the funds are coming from. They could potentially run out quite quickly."

Read the full story at CNN here, or The New York Times here. For more on Neon Tommy's coverage of the stock market, click here.

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