A surge in oil prices to more than $US85 a barrel spurred a steady market rally on Wall Street, led by energy shares.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied steadily from just before midday through the close, ending with a gain of 69.99 points, or 0.6%,
A surge in oil prices to more than $US85 a barrel spurred a steady market rally on Wall Street, led by energy shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied steadily from just before midday through the close, ending with a gain of 69.99 points, or 0.6%, at 11,204.28.
Chevron gained 1.8% while Merck was up 5% after calming investors' anxiety about the effect of the US healthcare overhaul on its profits.
American Express moved higher by nearly 2.7% after a strong earnings report late on Thursday.
Investors grew more optimistic about the US economy after a Commerce Department report showed sales of new homes posted their largest year-on-year increase in nearly five years.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%, held in check by a 4.3% decline in Amazon.com after the retailer said posting strong first-quarter earnings accompanied by cautious guidance for the current quarter.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stocks rose Friday but were off their highs, after Greece's prime minister requested a rescue from the EU and the IMF.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.8% to 267.42. The UK's FTSE 100 was up 1% at 5723.65, Germany's DAX gained 1.5% to 6259.53 and France's CAC-40 climbed 0.7% to 3951.30.
However, Greece's ASE Composite index fell 0.2% to 1857.96.
Most Asian markets ended the week lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1% to 21,244.49, bringing its loss for the week to 2.8%.
Property companies have taken a beating since the government said it might raise the transaction tax on some properties and announced a land auction as part of its effort to prevent an asset bubble.
China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 2983.54.
Thailand's SET index fell 0.9% to 754.58 after deadly grenade attacks in Bangkok's financial district.
In Tokyo, the euro's weakness against the yen stirred worries over the value of Japanese exports to the euro zone.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies fell 0.3% to 10,914.46, but expectations for strong corporate earnings slated for next week helped keep the decline in check.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5% to 4881.52, while India's Sensex was a rare gainer, rising 0.7% to 17,694.20.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude-oil futures settled above $US85 a barrel, as hopes of an improving global economy overcame fears of Greece's escalating financial problems.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled up $US1.42 at $US85.12 a barrel in New York while Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $US1.58 higher at $US87.25 a barrel.
Gold futures erased losses to end higher on optimism about strong US home sales and Greece's request for financial help.
Most actively traded gold for June delivery rose $US10.80, or 0.9%, to settle at $US1153.70 an ounce in New York. Thinly traded nearby April gold also rose $US10.80, or 0.9%, to $US1153.10.
Currencies: Euro, dollar up
The euro rebounded sharply off a one-year low after Greece formally sought a financial aid package and euro-zone heavyweight Germany said it was prepared to help.
The euro ranged from as low as $US1.3202 to $US1.3381, while advancing more than 1.3% against the yen.
By late Friday in New York, the euro was at $US1.3375 from $US1.3314 late on Thursday.
The dollar strengthened to ¥94.03 from ¥93.60, while the euro strengthened to ¥125.76 from ¥124.62.
The UK pound moved to $US1.5378 from $US1.5386. The dollar weakened to 1.0734 Swiss francs from 1.0767.
