Stocks on Wall Street recovered in a late rally of financial shares after the blue chip Dow index traded in the red for much of the session.AIG, up 10.6%, and Citigroup, up 3.7%, helped lift the broad S&P 500 index to a 0.45% gain to 1145.
Stocks on Wall Street recovered in a late rally of financial shares after the blue chip Dow index traded in the red for much of the session.
AIG, up 10.6%, and Citigroup, up 3.7%, helped lift the broad S&P 500 index to a 0.45% gain to 1145.61.
AIG has risen 50% for the month after deals to sell off assets, including its Asian operation AIA to Prudential. Citigroup made a successful $US2 billion issue of securities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a mere 2.9 points to close at 10,567.33. Of its financial components, Bank of America was up 2.9% and JP Morgan Chase was up 2.5%. Boeing also rose, up 1.9%.
Cisco Systems weighed on the market with a drop of 0.7% after Tuesday’s much-hyped unveiling of a faster router.
The Nasdaq Composite finished 0.8% higher at 2358.95, boosted by Google, which climbed 1.7% after the company's chief executive said he expected a conclusion to negotiations with the Chinese government.
The S&P 500 index has advanced 0.6% to 1142.75 with financial stocks making the strongest gains. category,
Other markets
Canadian stocks have moved higher as domestic consumption rose in China, fuelling demand for commodities.
The S&P/TSX composite index is up 0.1% to 11,933.
Shares of Quebecor surged 5% after the media and telecommunications company announced it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter. Rogers Communications and Telus each advanced 1.5%.
BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion rose 1.9%, adding to earlier gains this week.
European shares closed higher, extending gains as oil futures rallied in response to data showing tighter-than-expected US fuel inventories.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6% to close at 258.24. The UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to close at 5640.57, the German DAX index ended 0.9% higher at 5,936.72 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.9% to settle at 3943.55.
Most Asian markets traded in a narrow range as investors lacked new economic data.
China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.7% to 3048.93 after rising in the previous three sessions.
In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies ended nearly flat at 10563.92.
Commodities: Oil up, gold steady
Crude oil prices hit an eight-week high on a decline in US fuel inventories and a smaller-than-expected increase in oil stockpiles.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled 60USc higher, or 0.7%, at $US82.09 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 41USc higher at $US80.32 a barrel.
Gold futures plummeted in late New York trading. Lightly traded but nearby March gold settled $US14.20, or 1.3%, at $US1107.80 an ounce. The most-active April contract also fell $US14.20 to $US1108.10, with traders saying no particular event triggered the collapse.
Currencies: Dollar, euro up
The dollar and euro gained strongly against the Japanese yen on rising Chinese consumption data, which drew investors away from the safe-haven yen.
The dollar jumped to its highest level in two weeks against the yen, while the euro posted a more than 1% gain against the Japanese currency.
The Australian dollar, which is tied to China's voracious appetite for commodities, soared to its highest level against the US dollar in seven weeks.
The dollar was at ¥90.77 from ¥89.98 late on Tuesday, while the euro was at ¥123.65 from Y122.36. The euro was at $US1.3622 from $US1.3600 and the UK pound was at $US1.4938 from $US1.4995.
