Good Financial Data Sends Stocks Surging: Acadiana Business Index

Wall Street gains as Americans borrow more money. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 78 points to 12,837. Mark Lasseigne has your stock market report in today's Acadiana Business Index.

Stocks gained after the Fed reported U.S. consumers increased their debt by $17.8 billion in Janary. The increase was much larger than expected, due to a surge in personal loans, auto loans, and student loans.

The highly anticipated next-generation iPad is here. Apple announced the device in San Francisco this afternoon. Apples shares were little changed.

In other corporate news, General Electric confirmed its 2012 financial outlook in global growth. Shares were up 1.9%.

And, Pandora reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. The Internet radio company's shares dropped 24%.

Light sweet crude settled higher at $106.16 a barrel.b

And, gold closed at $1,694 an ounce.