Dow stocks lift sharply

Stocks on Wall Street rose sharply, aided by a US retail sales report that wasn't as bad as economists had expected and a strong industrial-production report from China.

Retail and food services sales fell by 0.2% in May from the previous month, compared with the 0.6% decline forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Excluding autos, retail sales last month climbed 0.3%, versus expectations for a 0.1% gain.

In addition, US producer prices rose 0.2% in May, which helped reduce deflationary concerns.

IAt the close (8am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 123.14 points, or 1.0%, to 12,076.11. Home Depot led the blue-chip index higher, advancing 3.8%, while Caterpillar rose 2.5%.

The S&P 500 index was up 1.3%, to 1287.87, led by energy and industrial stocks. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors traded in positive territory.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite was up 1.5%, to 2678.72.

Other markets: Europe slumps, Asia rises
European stocks slumped amid renewed concerns over Greece's debt situation.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.1% to 269.01, the sixth straight loss. The UK's FTSE 100 index shed 1% to 5808.89, France's CAC-40 index fell 0.9% at 3837.98, and Germany's DAX skidded 0.6% to 7060.23.

Most Asian stock markets advanced after Chinese economic data fed into hopes that the country will avoid a sharp economic slowdown.

China's Shanghai Composite Index closed up 1.1% at 2730.04. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 1.1% to 9547.79. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 0.1% to 22,496.00.

Korea's Kospi jumped 1.4% to 2076.83 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5% to 4584.95.

Commodities: Oil jumps, gold falls
Oil futures jumped, reversing earlier losses, as traders snapped up contracts after prices failed to extend Monday's decline.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $US1.42, or 1.5%, to $US98.72 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose $US1.05, or 0.8%, to $US120.15 a barrel.

China raised its bank-reserve requirements in reaction to soaring inflation data, trapping gold prices.

The most actively traded contract, for August delivery, was up $US1.20, or 0.1%, at $US1516.80 an ounce in New York. June-delivery gold was up $US2.50, or 0.2%, at $US1517.50.

Currencies: Dollar rises on sales data
Better-than-expected US retail sales data helped drive the dollar higher against the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

The dollar rose as high as ¥80.64 and to 0.8455 Swiss franc. The euro was at $US1.4473 from $US1.4413 late on Monday.

The dollar was at ¥80.49 from ¥80.24. The dollar bought 0.8432 franc compared with 0.8373 franc.