Stocks on Wall Street and around the world rose after China decided against boosting interest rates after strong inflation data released over the weekend.With little other news to go on, investors pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 18.24 points, o
Stocks on Wall Street and around the world rose after China decided against boosting interest rates after strong inflation data released over the weekend.
With little other news to go on, investors pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 18.24 points, or 0.2%, to 11,428.56 at the close (10am NZ time).
Caterpillar, a bellwether for the global economy, was the best performer: it rose 2.6%, while Chevron was up 2.2% and Walt Disney 2.1%.
General Electric shares slipped 0.1% after announcing it would offer $US1.3 billion for Wellstream Holdings, a maker of flexible pipeline products for the oil and gas industry.
The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% to 2624.91 after closing on Friday at its highest level since December 2007. The S&P 500 index was unchanged at 1240.46.
Other markets: Europe, Asia up
Miners led European stocks higher, as investors welcomed China's decision not to hike interest rates. Kazakhmys added 4.1% in London and steel giant ArcelorMittal gained 3.1% in Amsterdam.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.3% at 276.99, its sixth consecutive gain. The UK's FTSE 100 index gained 0.8% to 5860.75, France's CAC-40 index advanced 0.9% to at 3892.44 and Germany's DAX rose 0.3% to 7029.39.
Most Asian markets rose. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.9% to 2922.95 for its best performance in nearly two months.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased 0.7% to 23317.61 and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.8% to 10293.89, its highest close since May 14.
Korea's Kospi climbed 0.5% to 1996.59, its seventh gain in 10 sessions and its highest close since November 17, 2007, while India's Sensex rose 0.9% to 19,691.78.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures headed toward $US90 a barrel after Opec agreed to keep oil output steady. Light, sweet crude for January delivery traded $US1.40, or 1.6%, higher at $89.19 a barrel in New York.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.60 higher at $US92.08 a barrel.
Gold prices edged up despite higher Treasury yields as traders reacted to Chinese inflation data and a weaker dollar.
The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was up 1.1%, or $US15, at $US1399.90 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar down, euro up
The US dollar extended losses, giving up an earlier advance versus the euro, yen and pound, as stocks and commodities gained ground.
The China interest rate decision fueled hopes of stronger global growth, supporting investors’ appetite for riskier assets and lessening demand for the dollar.
The Japanese yen pared its gains as US Treasury yields came off the highs of the day.
The euro rose to $US1.3371 versus $US1.3232 on Friday. Against the yen, the dollar traded at ¥83.68, down from ¥83.91. It rose as high as ¥84.35 earlier in the session.
The British pound also turned up, by 0.3% to $US1.582, after trading down to $US1.5718 earlier.
