Stocks on Wall Street have bounced back after a the worst three-day slide since last March, as investors moved in on lower prices.All but financial stocks were buoyed by added certainty that US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake will be re-affirmed
Stocks on Wall Street have bounced back after a the worst three-day slide since last March, as investors moved in on lower prices.
All but financial stocks were buoyed by added certainty that US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake will be re-affirmed in the post, offsetting a drop in US house sales.
Among financials, American Express dropped 2.8%, extending last week's losses.
Kraft Foods fell 0.8% after Italian confectioner Ferrero followed Hershey in ruling out a bid for Cadbury, paving the way for Kraft to complete its takeover.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained throughout the session, rising 54.72 points, or 0.5%, to 10,227.70. Tech companies Intel and Hewlett-Packard bolstered the Dow, with H-P up 1.7% and Intel up 1.6%.
The S&P 500-share index advanced 0.8% to reach the 1100 mark, led by its materials and telecommunications sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 2216.39.
European stocks were mostly lower, but not by as much as expected, with technology shares among the worst performing after mixed earnings news.
Sweden's Telefon Ericsson fell 2.6% after reporting that its fourth-quarter net profit declined on higher restructuring costs and lower sales. It also said it would cut another 1500 jobs.
Philips Electronics gained 4.8% after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit, driven by improved operational earnings and lower charges.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2% at 249.4. The UK FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 5297.1 and the French CAC-40 fell 0.3% to 3807.3. Germany’s DAX declined 0.6% to 5659.1.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures turned slightly higher on a rise in US equity markets, though concerns linger about the pace of oil-consumption growth.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery traded 30USc, or 0.4%, higher at $US74.84 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 59USc, or 0.8%, higher at $US73.42 a barrel.
Gold futures also rose in response to increased risk appetite and a recent pick-up in physical demand.
February gold futures climbed $US3.80 to $US1093.50 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar, euro up
The dollar gave back most of its earlier advance on the yen after weaker-than-expected economic data revived concerns about the pace of an economic recovery in the US.
A plunge in US existing-home sales in December prompted investors to migrate to the yen, viewed as the safest currency.
The euro's rally against both the dollar and the yen lost steam was at $US1.4137, compared with $US1.4139 late on Friday.
The dollar moved to ¥90.01 from ¥89.87. The euro strengthened slightly to ¥127.37 from ¥127.07 yen.
The UK pound strengthened to $US1.6225 from $US1.6114.
