Stocks on Wall Street have continued their rally, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a 13-month high, as investors sought resource and financial shares.

Gold futures again reached record levels, as the dollar sank. Oil futures also went higher.

The Dow closed 203.52 points, or 1.5%, up at 10,226.94, the highest finish since October 3, 2008.

The Dow's gains were led by Caterpillar, which surged 4.1%, while American Express and General Electric were also sharply higher, up 4.7% and 3.5%, respectively.

GE's gains came as the Wall Street Journal reported the conglomerate and Comcast have settled on how to value NBC Universal, clearing a key obstacle to giving Comcast control of GE's television and movie company.

Only two of the measure's 30 components were in the red: Cisco Systems and Kraft Foods, which declined 0.1% and 1.2%, respectively.

Kraft's decline came as Cadbury emphatically rejected a $US16.28 billion hostile bid from the food giant.

The materials and financial sectors are leading the gains in the S&P 500, which climbed 2.2% to 1093.08. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 2.0% to 2154.06,

Canadian stocks advanced for a fifth day, led by commodity-linked companies and banks.

Suncor Energy rose 3.8% as oil topped $US79 a barrel. Royal Bank of Canada climbed 1.3% as financials increased. Goldcorp climbed 3.1% as bullion surged.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 236.46 points, or 2.1%, to 11,486.88.

European markets rose the most in more than three weeks after the Group of 20 nations agreed to maintain stimulus efforts and Allianz, the region’s biggest insurer, reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

Allianz jumped the most in six months after third-quarter earnings more than doubled. BHP Billiton led basic-resources shares higher.

The-pan European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 1.9% to 245.62. The UK FTSE 100 Index rose 1.8% to 5232.72, the German DAX climbed 2.4% to 5619.72 and the French CAC-40 Index rose 2.1% to 3785.49.

Commodities: Oil, gold up

Crude oil for December delivery climbed for the first time in three days, gaining $US1.67, or 2.2%, to $US79.10 a barrel in New York.

The rise came as oil and natural gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico evacuated workers and halted some output as Tropical Storm Ida blew through the region.

Ida is the first storm to disrupt output in the Gulf this hurricane season, which began in June and runs through the end of this month.

Gold futures climbed to a record for the second straight session as the slumping dollar spurred demand.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $US12.40, or 1.1%, to $US1108.10 an ounce in New York. Earlier, the price reached a record $US1111.70. The metal is up for the sixth straight session, the longest rally since March 2008.

Currencies: Dollar down, pound up

The dollar weakened to a 15-month low against the currencies of major trading partners after the Group of 20 nations agreed to maintain economic stimulus measures, encouraging investors to buy higher-yielding assets.

The dollar depreciated as much as 1.2% per euro, the biggest decline in four days, before trading at $US1.4997, compared with $US1.4847 on Friday. It touched $US1.5020, the weakest level since October 26.

The euro advanced 1.4% to ¥134.85, from ¥133.45. The dollar was little changed at ¥89.92, compared with ¥89.88.

Sterling gained as much as 1.4% to $US1.6843, the highest level since August 6.