Stocks on Wall Street extended their rally into a third week as investors cheered new rules on capital ratios that are unlikely to immediately affect bank earnings or lending.Of the three main benchmarks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the laggard w
Stocks on Wall Street extended their rally into a third week as investors cheered new rules on capital ratios that are unlikely to immediately affect bank earnings or lending.
Of the three main benchmarks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the laggard with a 0.8% rise, or 81.36 points, to 10,544.13. Earlier, the blue-chip gauge had gained more than 100 points.
Financial and technology stocks led the Dow, with JP Morgan Chase up 3.5%, Intel rising 2.8%, Bank of America rising 2.9%, Goldman Sachs up 2.7% and Cisco Systems gaining 2.8%.
Financial stocks were boosted after banking regulators agreed to phase in new restraints on lenders over more than eight years—a longer time horizon than expected.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.9% to 2285.71 on the heels of increasing merger-and-acquisitions activity in the technology sector.
The S&P 500-stock index advanced 1.1% to 1121.90, climbing into positive territory for the year and inching above its 200-day moving average.
Other markets: Europe, Asia up
Banks also lead an advance in European stocks. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.7% at 266.45.
The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 1.2% to 5565.53, France's CAC-40 index ended up 1.1% at 3767.15 and Germany's DAX added 0.8% to 6261.68.
Asian stocks ended higher, helped by upbeat industrial activity in China after several months of weakness.
Australian stocks finished up 1.2% after a four-month high intraday, led by miners after China's industrial production rose in August from July.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average, Korea's Kospi Composite, and Shanghai's Composite index all advanced 0.9%.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures ended at a one-month high as the latest evidence of strong economic growth in China boosted the outlook for oil demand.
The continued shutdown of a major pipeline bringing Canadian crude to US refiners also supported prices.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled up 74USc, or 1%, at $US77.19 a barrel in New York, the highest settlement since August 11. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange added 91USc, or 1.2%, to $US79.07 a barrel.
Gold futures eked out a small gain. Gold for September delivery rose marginally, up 60USc an ounce, to $US1,245.10 in New York.
Currencies: Euro up, dollar down
The euro notched the biggest percentage rise since July against the dollar as investors sold the greenback in favour of higher-yielding currencies.
The euro was at $US1.2867 in New York, compared with $US1.2711 late on Friday. The dollar weakened to ¥83.64 from ¥84.20.
The euro strengthened to ¥107.62 from ¥107.03. The UK pound strengthened to $US1.5425 from $US1.5357.
