Stocks soar on Wall St as earnings boom

Stocks on Wall Street have surged on a wave of more expected higher corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 108.52 points, or 0.9%, to 11,980.52 at the close (10am NZ time), the closest it has been to 12,000 in the past two and a half years. 

Leading the blue chips, Alcoa climbed 3.4%, amid a broader rise among materials companies. Intel was also strong, rising 1.7%, after the chip maker's board authorised the company to buy back another $US10 billion in stock.

Buoyed by its positive result last Friday, GE shares traded above $US20 a share, the first time the stock has cracked that level in more than two years.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.0% to 2717.55 and the S&P 500 index was up 0.6% to 1290.84, with its materials sector leading the climb.

Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European stock markets edged higher as positive economic news from the euro zone improved sentiment.

The Stoxx Europe index was 0.3% lower at 281.99, but the UK's FTSE 100 rose to 0.8% at 5943.85,

Germany's DAX climbed 0.1% to 7067.77 and France's CAC-40 added 0.3% to 4033.21.

In Asia, Japanese stocks rose, as exporters were boosted by the euro's recent appreciation against the yen.

Metals stocks tumbled in China because of a report that the country may scrap export-tax rebates on more commodities.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7% to 10345.11, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6% to 4786.04, Korea's Kospi gained 0.6% to 2082.16 and India's Sensex climbed 0.8% to 19151.28.

The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% to 2695.72 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3% to 23801.78.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures slipped on concerns that Saudi Arabia could raise oil production to ward off higher prices.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery was down $US1.04, or 1.2%, to $US88.07 a barrel in New York.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the world had "clearly passed" the economic recession of 2008-09, but he added that prices would remain stable compared with last year.

Global inflation concerns and a large inflow into the world's biggest gold fund helped support gold prices.

The most-actively traded gold contract, for February delivery, was up $US1.80, or 0.1%, at $US1342.80 an ounce in New York.

The world’s largest physically backed gold exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares, registered an inflow of 20.34 tonnes, or 653,830.75 ounces, of gold on Friday as buyers responded to the recent price drop.

Currencies: Euro up
The euro rose against the dollar and the yen as traders seized on hawkish comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who reiterated in a Wall Street Journal interview that interest rates could rise with inflation.

The euro was at $US1.3638 from $1.3615 late on Friday and touched a high of $US1.3660, its peak level since November 22.

The euro hit a two-month high against the yen, at ¥112.73 from ¥112.41. The dollar was at ¥82.67 from ¥82.56.

The Swiss franc briefly surged against the euro and the dollar after news of a suicide bombing at a Russian airport that killed 34 people.

The euro was at 1.3003 Swiss francs from 1.3049 francs. The dollar was at 0.9535 franc from 0.9584 franc.