Stocks on Wall Street emerged from the Easter break with a muted but positive response to upbeat economic data about new home sales and service-sector activity.Investors also responded for the first time to strong US employment released on Friday, which w
Stocks on Wall Street emerged from the Easter break with a muted but positive response to upbeat economic data about new home sales and service-sector activity.
Investors also responded for the first time to strong US employment released on Friday, which was a market holiday.
The latest reports bolstered traders' confidence in the US economy, causing energy, industrial, and basic-materials stocks to climb.
Prices of oil and other commodities also rallied, helped by hopes for improved demand.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 46.48 points, or 0.4%, at 10,973.55, led by a 1.5% gain in Caterpillar. Earlier, the index was up more than 60 points at its morning high, an 18-month peak.
The Nasdaq Composite Index finished more than 1.0% higher at 2429.53 with Apple shares up 0.7% after the company said it sold more than 300,000 iPads in the US, including pre-orders, on the first day the device was available.
Best Buy, which is carrying the iPad, rose 1.2%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to 1187.44, led by a 1.6% gain in its energy sector, which was boosted by a jump in oil prices.
Other markets
European stock markets were closed but Asian markets that were open finished higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies closing at a new 18-month high for the third straight session as a weaker yen lifted shares of exporters.
Indonesia's market hit a new high Monday, eclipsing a previous high set in January 2008, amid investor enthusiasm for its increasing political stability and economic growth.
The Nikkei ended up 0.5% at 11,339.30, Korea's Kospi Composite erased earlier losses and ended up 0.1% at 1724.99 and India's Sensex rose 1.4% to 17,935.68.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures added to last week's rally, as the market opened for the first time since Friday's report of the biggest increase in US employment in three years.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery traded $US1.68 higher at $US86.55 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose $US1.66 to $US85.67 a barrel.
Oil prices rose 5.7% in last week's shortened week, largely on signs that economic activity in Asia remains strong.
Gold futures rose slightly, supported by higher oil prices and an easing US dollar.
The most-active June contract was up $US4.50 at $US1130.60 an ounce in New York Mercantile. Thinly traded nearby April gold was up $US3.80, or 0.3%, at $US1128.90.
Currencies: Dollar down, pound up
The US dollar fell versus the euro, the UK pound and Japanese yen, extending losses after a services industry index rose more-than-expected, alongside a big jump in pending home sales.
The dollar bought ¥94.34, compared with ¥94.53 late on Friday.
The UK pound rose to $US1.5275 from $US1.5203. The euro bought $US1.3478, versus $US1.3487.
The Canadian dollar has inched nearer to parity with the US currency, boosted by higher commodity prices.
The US dollar was at $C1.0027 from $C1.0082 late on Friday.
