Stocks on Wall Street rose to their highest since early May, boosted by stronger-than-expected earnings from Citigroup and an improved performance on the house-building front.The National Association of Home Builders said its housing market index rose thr
Stocks on Wall Street rose to their highest since early May, boosted by stronger-than-expected earnings from Citigroup and an improved performance on the house-building front.
The National Association of Home Builders said its housing market index rose three points to 16 in October, the first improvement in the index in five months.
Citigroup rose 3.8% after third-quarter earnings soared, with per-share profit coming in just above analysts' estimates. The amount Citigroup set aside for credit losses fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 80.91 points, or 0.7%, to 11,143.69, the highest since May 3. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 2480.66, while the S&P 500 index was up 0.7% to 1184.71.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stocks bounced back from early losses to end higher.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.3% at 266.64. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to 5742.52, France's CAC 40 index ended up 0.2% at 3834.50 and Germany's DAX added 0.4% to 6516.63.
Most Asian stock indexes fell, with Hong Kong bank shares lower, while regional resource stocks dropped on softer commodity prices.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to 23469.38, and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was nearly flat, down 1.76 points to 9498.49.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.8% to 4651.89, Korea's Kospi slid 1.4% to 1875.42 and China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 2955.23, ending a seven-session winning streak.
India's Sensex rose 0.2% to 20,168.89.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures rose above $US83 a barrel on improving hopes for the broader economy and declining stocks.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled $US1.83, or 2.3%, higher at $US83.03 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.92 higher, or 2.3%, to $US84.37 a barrel.
Gold futures were lower as dollar strength weighed on the precious metal. The most actively traded contract for December delivery was down 0.4%, or $US5.90, at $US1,366.10 per ounce in New York.
Gold prices have set fresh record highs over the past five weeks, reaching a record settlement high of $US1,376.70 and garnering nearly a 9% gain in the period.
Currencies: Dollar down, pound up
The US dollar surrendered most of its earlier gains against its major rivals. Though the dollar kept a slight lead on the day against the euro, it languished near a 10-month low. I
Investors have sold off the dollar more than 7% against the euro over the past month as a further stimulus from the US Federal Reserve is considered a certainty.
The euro was at $US1.3970 from $US1.3976 late on Friday. The dollar was at ¥81.17 from ¥81.41, while the euro was at ¥113.40 from ¥113.77.
The UK pound was at $US1.5894 from $US1.5985. The dollar was at 0.9564 Swiss franc from 0.9587 franc.
