Wall Street rises with US inflation

Stocks on Wall Street are up as investors reacted to a plethora of mixed quarterly results and a domestic economy facing inflation pressures.

US wholesale prices rose 0.8% in September, as energy prices surged, while home builders' sentiment rose to its highest level in 17 months.

Later in the session, stocks hit fresh highs after a report circulated that France and Germany had agreed on a €2 trillion plan to combat Europe's sovereign-debt crisis.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 180.05 points, or 1.6%, to 11,577.05, after falling as much as 101 points soon after the opening.

The S&P 500 index was up 2.0% to 1225.38, led higher by financial and industrial stocks. Each of the index's 10 sectors traded in positive territory.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 1.6% to 2657.43.

Results from several blue-chip companies presented a mixed picture. IBM fell 5.3% after third-quarter revenue fell short of expectations.

Bank of America was the biggest gainer among the blue chips, rising 6.3% after reporting third-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations.

Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European mostly shares fell. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped after the release of disappointing data on German economic sentiment.

The German ZEW confidence index for October fell more than expected and was at its weakest since late 2008. Moody's Investors Service warned that the stable outlook for France's triple-A sovereign rating was at risk.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.4% at 235.33. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.5% at 5410.35, hurt by a fall in the heavily weighted mining sector.

Germany's DAX managed a late rally to close up 0.3% at 5877.41 while France's CAC-40 ended 0.8% lower at 3141.10, hurt by a fall in its blue-chip banks.

Asian markets fell in response to data showing China's economy grew less than expected during the third quarter. The Shanghai Composite fell 2.3% to 2383.49, taking a hit after GDP data showed the economy grew 9.1% from a year earlier, short of economists' 9.2% forecast.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 4.2% to 18,076.46, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1.6% at 8741.91, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.1% to 4186.90, Korea's Kospi fell 1.4% to 1838.90 and India's Sensex slid 1.6% to 16,748.29.

Commodities: Oil up, gold down
Oil futures traded the highest in a month as traders took their cues from a rallying stock market and shrugged off slowing economic growth in China.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up $US1.96, or 2.3%, at $US88.34 a barrel in New York. Brent crude also gained, climbing 99USc, or 0.9%, to $US111.15 a barrel.

Gold futures pared losses after earlier dropping below $US1640 an ounce. The contract for October delivery settled down $US23.80, or 1.4%, at $US1651.70 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: US dollar up
The US dollar gained ground against the euro and the Swiss franc but held mostly steady against the yen.

The euro was at $US1.3715 compared with $US1.3737 late on Monday. The US dollar traded at ¥76.75 compared with ¥76.83, while the euro was at ¥105.26 compared with ¥105.49.

The UK pound fetched $US1.5663 compared with $US1.5743, while the dollar bought 0.9016 Swiss franc from 0.8992 franc.