Stocks on Wall Street advanced for a second day as housing and industrial data showed improvements and companies posted strong earnings.US January industrial production came in slightly better than expected as the factory sector paces the recovery.Housing
Stocks on Wall Street advanced for a second day as housing and industrial data showed improvements and companies posted strong earnings.
US January industrial production came in slightly better than expected as the factory sector paces the recovery.
Housing starts climbed 2.8% January, slightly higher than expected and the strongest rise since July 2009.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 40.43 points, or 0.4%, higher at 10,309.24.
Bank of America was the measure's best performer, extending its gains from Tuesday with a 2.1% rise. Home Depot was also particularly strong, up 1.5%, on the housing starts data.
Hewlett-Packard rose 1% on higher quarterly earnings while Caterpillar climbed 0.5% on the higher industrial production figure.
The S&P 500 share index was up 0.5% to 1099.51, led by its health-care and consumer-staples sectors, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.6% to 2226.29.
Other markets
Canadian shares rose, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index up 0.4%, or 49.12 points, to 11,365.49.
European shares advanced for the third straight session, boosted by strong earnings data from the financial sector.
French bank BNP Paribas climbed 4% after it swung to a fourth-quarter net profit, beating market expectations, as charges to cover bad loans receded and the investment-banking arm rebounded.
In the Netherlands, ING rose 5.6% after it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss. Barclays added another 2.9% in London.
After rising 1.4% over the first two sessions of the week, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index added another 1.4% to close at 247.69. That move pared year-to-date losses to 2.4%.
The UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.6% to close at 5276.64, the German DAX index finished 1% higher at 5648.34 and the French CAC-40 index rose 1.5% to settle at 3725.21.
Asian markets rallied with resource shares rising sharply on higher commodity prices, while a weaker yen boosted Japanese exporters.
Hong Kong shares advanced as trading resumed for the first time this week after the Lunar New Year holidays.
Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 2.7% to 10,306.83 for its best single-day percentage gain this year, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 2.2% 4667.86, South Korea's Kospi gained 1.7% 1627.43 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tacked on 1.3% to 20,534.01.
Singapore's Straits Times Index climbed 1.3% to 2794.06 as trading also resumed in the city-state after Lunar New Year holidays, while India's Sensex also advanced 1.3% 16,428.91.
Stock markets in China, Taiwan and Vietnam remained closed.
Commodities: Oil, gold steady
Crude futures were nearly unchanged, as an improved economic outlook looked unlikely to provide the impetus to push past $US80 a barrel after a week of strong gains.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 12USc to $US77.13 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 17USc higher at $US75.85 a barrel.
Gold futures are trading near steady as dollar-supportive US housing data pulled the metal down from a near-one-month high set just before New York pit trading opened.
April gold is up $US1.30, or 0.1%, at $US1121.10 an ounce in New York. The contract reached a high of $US1128.70, its highest point since January 20.
Currencies: Dollar up, yen down
The US dollar's rally picked up steam, hitting a two-week high against the yen, after stronger US economic data fuelled bets the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy sooner than expected.
The dollar jumped to the highest level since February 3 against the yen, rising as high as ¥91.12. Demand for the greenback pushed the euro well below the $US1.37 level.
The euro was at $US1.3707 from $US1.3769 late on Tuesday. The dollar was at ¥90.98 from ¥90.16, while the euro was at ¥124.70 from ¥124.08.
The UK pound was at $US1.5780 from $US1.5787.
