U.S. stock prices surged Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks suggesting the central bank is likely to maintain short-term interest rates near zero through 2014.

Bernanke defended the Federal Reserve's low interest rates before the National Association for Business Economics on Monday, explaining the U.S. economy needs to grow stronger to further bring down the unemployment rate.

Following the Fed chairman's remarks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange jumped one-point-two percent to close at 13-thousand-241, while the S&P 500 index rose nearly one-point-four percent to close at one-thousand-416. The Nasdaq composite index closed at three-thousand-122, up some one-point-eight percent from last Friday.

Stock prices in Europe also surged in the wake of Bernanke's statement.