Nasdaq cruises into positive territory for year

Stocks on Wall Street began the week by pushing higher and taking the Nasdaq Composite into positive territory for the year.

Investors welcomed strong results from export bellwether Caterpillar, a set of merger announcements and signs of progress toward a debt deal in Europe.

At the close (9am NZ time),the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.83 points, or 0.9%, to 11,913.62. The Dow surged 267 points on Friday to close at a 2 ½-month high, stretching its weekly winning streak to four weeks, the longest since January 2011.

Caterpillar was head-and-shoulders above over all other blue-chip stocks, gaining 5.0% after it reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The company raised its outlook for the full year.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.35% to 2699.44, pushing the technology-oriented stock index back into positive territory for 2011. The S&P 500 index was up 1.3%, to 1254.19.

In corporate activity, Cigna rose 5% after making a bet on Medicare with a $US3.8 billion deal for HealthSpring, which surged 34%. Oracle rose 2.3% and RightNow Technologies climbed 19% after it received an offer valued at $US1.43 billion.

Sara Lee sold the majority of its North American food-service coffee and tea operations to J.M. Smucker for $US350 million in cash. Sara Lee eased 0.7% and Smucker shares added 0.7%.

Mattel rose 2.1% after agreeing to buy HIT Entertainment, which sells the Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam toy lines, for $US680 million,

Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European stocks gained ground. The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 1.3% to end at 242.03 amid optimism that European leaders were near a deal on expanding the euro zone's bailout fund.

France's CAC40 index rose 1.6% to 3220.46, with Société Générale up 4.1%. In Germany, the DAX 30 index climbed 1.4% to 6055.27, with Commerzbank AG up 3.2%.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 1.1% to 5548.06, with miners leading after data from China showing an expansion in the manufacturing sector in October.

Asian markets rose broadly following data showing China's manufacturing sector expanded in October for the first time since March. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 4.1% to 18,771.82, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average advanced 1.9% to 8843.98 and Korea's Kospi jumped 3.3% to 1898.32.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 2.7% to 4255.0 and the Shanghai Composite Index closed 2.3% higher at 2370.33.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures closed above $US90 a barrel and at their highest in three months. Light, sweet crude for December delivery settled at $US91.27, a barrel in New York, up $US3.87, or 4.4%. It was the highest settlement since August 3.

Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange ended the day up $US1.89, or 1.7%, at $US111.45 a barrel.

Gold futures pressed higher. The contract for October delivery settled up $US16.40, or 1.0%, at $US1651.50 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: US dollar falls
The US dollar turned back down against the euro, though it stayed in a tight range, following a report that Germany is willing to leverage Europe's bailout fund to more than €1 trillion.

The dollar also headed back down slightly versus the yen despite a threat by Japanese authorities to intervene in currency markets.

The euro rose to $US1.3928 compared with $US1.3896 late on Friday.

The dollar was at ¥76.07 from ¥76.26, while the euro was at ¥105.94 compared with ¥105.87.

The UK pound bought $US1.5983 from $US1.5953, while the dollar fetched 0.8805 Swiss franc compared with 0.8824. franc.