Dow surge closes in on year's high

Stocks on Wall Street pushed higher as further details emerged of plans to recapitalise Euro-zone banks.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso delivered what he described as a comprehensive "roadmap" to addressing the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, including a call for a "fully coordinated" plan to strengthen Europe's banks.

This includes new reviews of banks using a temporary higher capital ratio. The French government has pledged it will help recapitalise the country's banks if necessary and won't need to tap a European rescue fund,

After a day of holding gains on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average resumed its recent climb, putting on 102.55 points, or 0.9%, to 11,518.85 at the close (9am NZ time). Earlier, it was up as much as 190 points, putting it back into positive territory for the year.

The S&P 500 index was up 1.0% to 1207.25 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% to 2604.73.

The Dow is up more than 6% this month – the fifth-best start to October since 1900 – and just short of where it started the year.

Bank stocks led the gains, with JP Morgan Chase rising 2.2% and Citigroup jumping 5%. Industrial stocks were also strong. Caterpillar added 1.4% and 3M gained 2.3%.

But Alcoa tumbled 3.8% after unofficially kicking off the third-quarter reporting season by missing earnings estimates. Revenues were higher than expected.

Other markets: Europe, Asia mixed
European stock markets mostly ended lower though they pared earlier losses as optimism rose on a bank recapitalisation plan.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.3% at 235.28. The UK's FTSE 100 index closed down 0.1% at 5395.70 and France's CAC-40 index closed 0.3% lower at 3153.52.

Germany's DAX index closed up 0.3% at 5865.01.

Asian markets also finished off their lows with mixed results.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1% to close at 18,329.46 after dropping as low as 1.9%, while the Shanghai Composite index surged 3% to 2420.00,

Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 1809.50 and India's Sensex rose 2.6% to 16,958.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.6% to 4204.30 while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 4% lower at 8738.90.

Commodities: Oil steady, gold up
The International Energy Agency and Opec both trimmed their energy-demand forecasts but said demand was still rising, with Opec adding that it doesn't expect another global recession.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery was down six cents, or 0.1%, at $85.73 a barrel in early trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange was up $1.13, or 1%, at $111.86 a barrel.

Gold pressed higher on a weaker US dollar and hopes of a European bank-recapitalisation plan.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, was up $US24.30, or 1.5%, at $US1685.30 an ounce in New York. October-delivery gold was $US28.90, or 1.7%, higher at $US1688.60 an ounce.

Currencies: Euro pushes higher
The euro rose higher against the US dollar on bank recapitalisation moves and was at $US1.3810 compared with $US1.3639 late on Tuesday.

The euro had not traded above $US1.38 since September 16 and has jumped 5% against the dollar since hitting a recent bottom eight days ago.

The euro also surged against the yen, which was under pressure from rumours that the Bank of Japan would set a Swiss-style floor on the dollar-yen exchange rate.

The euro jumped more than 2% against the yen, trading at ¥107.03 from ¥104.52. The dollar was at ¥77.40 compared with ¥76.65.

The UK pound traded at $US1.5763 from $US1.5578, while the dollar bought 0.8924 Swiss franc from 0.9088 franc.