Stocks today recovered nearly back to even for the year, just a week after Europe’s debt crisis sent US markets down 9 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 102 points, or 1 percent, to 11,518 at 4 p.m. The Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 1 percent to 1,207 — capping a gain of 9.8 percent in the last week. Stocks have posted solid gains since touching bottom Oct. 3, rallying more than 1,000 points on the Dow.

For investors, it has been a wild ride since April, when the stock market reached its high for the year. Over the next five months, stocks plunged nearly 20 percent. Since August, the Dow has moved up or down more than 100 points daily 71 percent of the time. That includes 36 out of the last 50 trading sessions, as tracked by the Dow Jones Indexes.

Today’s gains stemmed from the European Union, which released a blueprint of how it will recapitalize banks to stem the region’s debt crisis.

European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso presented a plan to strengthen European banks and lower Greece’s debt. It’s being seen as the strongest effort yet to address the region’s debt crisis, the Associated Press reported.

In addition, a Slovakian opposition party leader said that country’s political parties have agreed to approve a deal to strengthen Europe’s financial rescue program. Slovakia’s parliament blocked the deal Tuesday, setting back efforts to free up more funds for indebted European countries and banks. All 16 of the other countries that use the euro have approved the measure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.