Stocks on Wall Street built on a strong opening that took its lead from signs the European banking sector was in better shape than feared by Tuesday's report of inadequate stress tests.At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 46.32 points, or
Stocks on Wall Street built on a strong opening that took its lead from signs the European banking sector was in better shape than feared by Tuesday’s report of inadequate stress tests.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 46.32 points, or 0.45%, to 10,387.0, with financial stocks among the top performers.
The S&P 500 index advanced 0.6% to 1198.87 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.9% to 2228.87.
JP Morgan Chase rose 2.2%, Bank of America gained 1.3% and Goldman Sachs added 2.3% after encouraging developments in Europe's banking sector.
Industrial and materials stocks also fared well, with Caterpillar, Boeing and Alcoa all rising more than 1.6%.
Technology stocks were a relative laggard, dragged down by Intel's 1.8% stumble and Hewlett-Packard's 3.9% drop.
BP rallied 3.5% after an internal report said "a sequence of failures," rather than a single mistake, led to the explosion on a drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
The rebound also came after the Portuguese government sold three-year and 10-year debt amid solid demand, easing short-term concerns about euro-zone sovereign debt and offsetting a drop in German exports.
Ireland also said it would split the deeply troubled Anglo Irish Bank into two banks in an attempt to address concerns over the state of its banking sector, a day after it extended government guarantees for its troubled banks.
In response, European stock markets ended higher after struggling early in the trading day.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 1% at 262.33. The UK's FTSE 100 closed 0.4% higher at 5429.74, Germany's DAX index was up 0.8% to 6164.44 and France's CAC-40 index finished 0.9% higher at 3677.21.
Most Asian stock markets declined as the yen rose to a new 15-year high against the US dollar, dragging Japanese shares sharply lower.
The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 2.2% to 9024.60, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8% to 4537.16, Korea's Kospi lost 0.5% to 1779.22, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.5% to 21,088.86 and China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1% 2695.29.
India's Sensex rose 0.1% to 18,666.71 while Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 0.8% to 3011.42.
Commodities: Oil up, gold down
Crude futures rose above $US75 a barrel as investors returned to equities and other riskier assets.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery recently traded $US1.12, or 1.5%, higher at $US75.21 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 90USc higher at $US78.64 a barrel.
Gold futures retreated after closing at a record high in the previous session. The December delivery contract fell 15USc to $US1257.70 an ounce. Earlier, they fell as low as $US1254.60 an ounce.
Currencies: Dollar, yen down
The US dollar and yen fell against the euro after a positive euro-zone government debt auction soothed investor nerves.
The Canadian dollar gained sharply against the greenback after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates, its third-consecutive increase of key rates.
The euro was at $US1.2752 after hitting an intraday high of $US1.2764 from $US1.2689 late on Tuesday.
The dollar was at Y83.92 from Y83.80, after falling as low as Y83.34 overnight. The euro was at Y106.99 from Y106.33. The UK pound was at $US1.5495 from $US1.5350.
