Stocks on Wall Street continued their yo-yo course, with prices bouncing back from Wednesday's slide, helped by an improving employment picture in the run-up to Friday's official jobs numbers.The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 44.05 points, or 0.4%, t
Stocks on Wall Street continued their yo-yo course, with prices bouncing back from Wednesday’s slide, helped by an improving employment picture in the run-up to Friday's official jobs numbers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 44.05 points, or 0.4%, to 10,680.43. The blue-chip index has added 1.32% in the past five sessions, despite slipping slightly on four of those days.
Private-sector employment notched up a surprise increase and there were encouraging signs of expansion in the US non-manufacturing sector.
Pfizer rose 1.9%, adding to a 5.6% gain on Tuesday, to help the health-care sector gain. Walt Disney and DuPont were also strong among Dow components, advancing 2.2% and 2.3% respectively.
The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.6% to 2297, while the S&P 500 index has added 0.4% to 1125, with consumer discretionary and health-care stocks leading the way.
Priceline.com surged 21% to a 10-year high after its quarterly earnings jumped 72%, easily topping Wall Street forecasts.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stock markets finished a little higher with the help of better-than-expected economic data from the US.
Markets across the region started the day on a downbeat note, after Tuesday’s disappointing economic data in the US, but swung up on better-than-expected figures on employment and non-manufacturing activity.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was little changed at 262.17. France's CAC-40 finished up 0.4% at 3760.72 and Germany's DAX ended up 0.4% to 6331.33. The UK's FTSE 100 index finished down 0.2% at 5386.16.
In Asia, the yen's strength weighed on Japanese exporters' stocks, leaving the Nikkei Stock Average with a 2.1% loss at 9489.34.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% to 4542.08, ending a three-session winning streak despite news that Australia's seasonally adjusted trade surplus came in at $A3.54 billion in June, nearly double what was expected.
Korea’s Kospi Composite shed 0.1% to 1789.26 and the Singapore Straits Times index eased 0.4% to 3001.87.
In China, the Shanghai Composite, climbed 0.4% to 2638.52, rebounding from a 1.7% fall on Tuesday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended 0.4% higher at 21549.88, Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.2% at 7972.66 and India's Sensitive Index increased 0.6% to 18217.44.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude futures slipped after a US government report showed fuel inventories rising, although a steep drop in oil stockpiles prevented deeper losses.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery traded 30USc, or 0.4%, lower at $US82.25 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 48USc, or 0.6%, lower at $US82.20 a barrel.
Gold futures climbed to their highest levels in almost two weeks, supported by sustained physical buying and speculation about stronger demand from an expanded Chinese market.
The most actively traded contract for December delivery rose $US16.20, or 1.4%, to $US1203.70 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar, up, euro down
The dollar reversed course after early losses against the yen when US service-sector data for July surpassed expectations.
The dollar had retreated broadly in recent sessions, particularly against the yen, on speculation the US Federal Reserve may have to inject more monetary stimulus into the faltering US economy.
The dollar strengthened to ¥86.23 from ¥85.83 late on Tuesday, after hitting as low as ¥85.33.
The euro moved to $US1.3155 from $US1.3231. The euro was at ¥113.44 from ¥113.56. The pound weakened to $US1.5878 from $US1.5947.
