A weaker US dollar and rising oil prices prompted a surge in energy shares, pushing Wall Street higher.The US Commerce Department said personal spending rose 0.3% in February, in line with expectations.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 45.50 po
A weaker US dollar and rising oil prices prompted a surge in energy shares, pushing Wall Street higher.
The US Commerce Department said personal spending rose 0.3% in February, in line with expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 45.50 points, or 0.4%, up at 10,895.86, just over 100 points away from the 11,000 level the measure last topped in late September 2008.
Boeing rose 2.3%, extending its recent gains. Caterpillar climbed 1.7% and Alcoa rose 1.3% as metals futures advanced. Exxon Mobil and Chevron both added 1.1% as oil futures rose above $US82 a barrel.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4% to 2404.36. The S&P 500 index advanced 0.6% to 1173.22, led by its energy and materials stocks. Only the consumer discretionary and financial sectors slipped into the red.
Citigroup slipped 3.5% in heavy trading after the Treasury said it would begin its anticipated sale of roughly 7.7 billion Citigroup common shares this year. Shortly after midday, more than 630,000 shares of Citigroup stock had changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange.
Other markets
European shares edged higher as an advance from miners and Vodafone worked to offset losses for oil majors and banks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1% to 263.89, with oil majors giving up some ground made in recent weeks. Shares of BP lost 0.5% while Royal Dutch Shell shares slipped 0.7%.
As the dollar weakened against the euro, metal futures and miners gained, with copper futures up 11USc at $US3.52 per pound and copper miner Xstrata shares up 3.2% in London.
The UK FTSE 100 index gained 0.1% to 5710.66, the French CAC-40 index rose 0.3% to 4000.66 and the German DAX climbed 0.6% to 6156.85.
Asian stock markets traded mostly higher, with China's markets surging after the launch date for stock index futures was set.
Japanese shares were pressured by ex-dividend selling ahead of the end of the fiscal year on March 31. The Nikkei 225 shed 0.1% 10,986.47.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended nearly flat at 4897.27, Korea's Kospi Composite was 0.3% lower at 1691.99, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9% to 21,237.43, while the Shanghai Composite jumped 2.1% to end at a two-month high of 3123,80.
India’s Sensex rose 0.4% to 17,711.35 and Singapore’s Strait Times was up 0.8% to 1944.78.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures were sharply higher, buoyed by a weaker dollar and strength in equity markets due to an improved economic outlook.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled $US2.17, or 2.7%, higher at $US82.17 a barrel in New York. Prices briefly touched $US82.78 a barrel, the highest intraday level since February 16.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $US1.88 higher, or 2.4%, at $US81.17 a barrel.
Gold futures rose on continued gains in the euro after a European accord on Greece's debt late last week.
The contract for June delivery settled $US6.10, or 0.6%, higher at $US1111.50 an ounce in New York.
A World Gold Council report says China's gold jewellery and investment demand could double in the next decade.
"Our analysis shows that if gold demand were to continue to increase so markedly, domestic supply would be unable to keep pace," says Eily Ong, the WGC’s investment research manager. "Whatever the outcome, China's outlook will almost certainly have implications for the global market."
China is the second-largest buyer of gold in the world behind India, with consumption valued at $US14 billion in 2009.
Consumption could rise to $US29 billion at end-of-2009 prices within the next decade, according to the report.
Currencies: Euro up, dollar down
The euro extended its rally for a second day as a planned sale of new debt by Greece boosted demand for riskier assets.
The common currency hit a week high against the US dollar, surging past the $US1.35 level, during overnight trade after the Greek government said it was seeking to raise as much as €5 billion in seven-year bonds to help meet its debt obligations coming due in April.
The euro also jumped to a two-week high against the yen.
The euro is at $US1.3467 from $US1.3415 late on Friday and at ¥124.77 from ¥124.12 yen.
The dollar is at ¥92.65 from ¥92.52. The UK pound is at $US1.4968 from $US1.4903.
