Stocks on Wall Street finished February with the strongest monthly gain since November note, buoyed by improved readings of gross domestic product and purchasing managers activity.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.23 points to 10,325.26, advancing 2
Stocks on Wall Street finished February with the strongest monthly gain since November note, buoyed by improved readings of gross domestic product and purchasing managers activity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.23 points to 10,325.26, advancing 2.6% for the month.
The measure was led by a 3.3% gain in JP Morgan Chase after its executives said they didn't foresee a need to make strategic shifts despite changing regulations.
Merck rose 1% as healthcare stocks climbed after a Washington summit concluded without a deal on legislation.
The US Commerce Department said GDP rose at a 5.9% annual rate in 2009's fourth period, the fastest rate since the third quarter of 2003. A month ago, the department had estimated GDP rose at a 5.7% rate.
The Chicago Business Barometer (a purchasing managers' index) rose for a fifth consecutive month to its highest level since April 2005, beating analysts' expectations.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 2238.26, up 4.2% for the month. The St&P 500 index ticked up 0.1% to 1104.48, up 2.9% for the month.
Other markets
Canada's main stock index surged 4.8% in February, outpacing all global markets, which advanced 0.3% for the month.
After a choppy session of trading, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 0.01%, or two thirds of a point to stand at 11,632. For the week, the index sank 0.7%.
Talisman Energy rose 0.6% while Iamgold advanced 1.6%. Bombardier fell 3% after jumping on Thursday when the company announced a deal worth up to $C6.3 billion to sell a new fleet of aircraft to US airline Republic Airways.
European shares rose, taking back some sharp losses made a day earlier, as fears about Greece's fiscal health cooled ahead of the weekend.
Commodity-sector firms were at the forefront, with Rio Tinto up 3.5% and Xstrata up 3%. The sector was also helped by a rise in gold and copper futures as the US dollar weakened against the euro.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index advanced 1% to 245.80, trimming February's losses to 0.5%.
The German DAX index advanced 1.2% to 5598.46 and the French CAC-40 index rose 1.9% to 3708.80. Both indexes lost ground for the month.
The U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 1.4% to 5354.52. Its 3.2% climb in February was its third monthly rise in the last four months.
The Greek ASE Composite index rose 2.2% to 1913.16, recovering from Thursday's 2.8% plunge. It remains down nearly 13% this year.
Asian markets were encouraged by Thursday’s late rally on Wall Street as well as some positive domestic factors.
Indian shares climbed to their highest close in more than three weeks on government proposals to cut the deficit and ease the tax burden on individuals. Mumbai’s Sensex gained 1.1% to 16,429.55, its highest close since February 3,
Japanese stocks gained on better-than-expected industrial-output data. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies rose 0.2% to 10,126.03, moving the index fractionally higher for the week. However, it shed 0.7% for all of February.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1% to 20,608.70, capping a month in which the index gained 2.4%. That was its best monthly showing since October.
Cathay Pacific Airways climbed 2.1% in the wake of news that it had finalised plans for an air-cargo joint venture with China's national carrier Air China. The joint venture will give the company access to the Yangtze River Delta, China's booming industrial hub.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1% to 4637.72, pushing this benchmark into positive territory for the week as well.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude oil futures rose on a weaker dollar and positive readings about the US economy, pushing it to biggest monthly gain in nine months.
Oil briefly broke through the symbolically important level of $US80 a barrel before retreating slightly at the end of the day, boosted in part by a revision to fourth-quarter economic growth.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up $US1.49, or 1.9%, at $US79.66 a barrel in New York. The front-month contract climbed 9.3% in February, its best monthly showing since May.
Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange settled $US1.30, or 1.7%, higher at $US77.59 a barrel.
Gold futures ended the month with gains as investors were encouraged by a possible plan to help cash-strapped Greece.
The front-month March contract gained $US10.50, or 0.9%, to settle at $US1118.30 an ounce in New York, its highest settlement in just over a week.
The contract climbed 3.3% in February, its first monthly gain since November. Most-active April gold rose $US10.40, or 0.9%, to settle at $US1118.90.
Currencies: Euro up, dollar down
The euro strengthened against the US dollar after reports the German government could be organising help for fiscally downtrodden Greece.
Higher-yielding, commodity-backed currencies, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, were also favoured; both advanced roughly 1% against their US counterpart.
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The dollar was weaker against most major rivals except the UK pound, which sank below $US1.52 before rebounding slightly.
Sterling fell even though the UK upwardly revised economic output figures from the last quarter of 2009. The pound was worth $US1.5243 from $US1.5271 late on Thursday.
At the close of trading in New York, the euro had moved to $US1.3618 from $US1.3558 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥88.92 from ¥89.10 and the euro strengthened to ¥121.09 from ¥120.81.
