US consumer optimism boosts heavyweight shares

Stocks on Wall Street rose to fresh multi-year highs, boosted by US consumer optimism and strong earnings from industrial heavyweights.

The euro gained against the dollar, while oil and gold prices fell.

The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence registered its second-highest reading since the downturn. A decline in home prices in February was also largely in line with expectations.

3M, Cummins and Ford Motor all reported strong earnings. Caterpillar rose 2.6% to lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 1%. General Electric gained 1.4%.

Ford’s $US2.5 billion first quarter profit was the largest for the period in 13 years, helped by rising demand and an expanded portfolio of fuel-efficient vehicles.

At the close (8am NZT), the Dow was 115.95 points, or 0.9%, higher at 12,595.83. The S&P 500 index was up 0.9% to 1347.20, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% to 2847.20.

Other markets: Europe rises, Asia falls
European stocks rose after trading resumed from a four-day Easter weekend, boosted by strong corporate results on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.3% at 281.23, its fourth consecutive gain and its highest close in more than two months.

The UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.8% to 6069.36, France's CAC-40 index gained 0.6% to 4045.29 and Germany's DAX rose 0.8% to 7356.51.

Asian stocks stumbled as commodities fell and investors continued to be shy of loose US monetary policy.

Tokyo shares were dragged down by weak earnings reports from corporations such as Nintendo, while the Hong Kong market was hurt by a decline in resource shares.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.2% to 9558.69. China's Shanghai Composite gave up 0.9% to 2938.98, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 0.5% to 24,007.38, Korea's Kospi slid 0.4% to 2206.30 and India's Sensex fell 0.2% to 19,545.35.

Commodities: oil weakens and metals slide
Oil futures were slightly weaker ahead of the Fed's policy-setting meeting, while petrol prices remained strong ahead of the peak demand season.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery in New York was down 21USc at $US112.07 a barrel. Brent crude for June on the ICE was 21USc higher at $US123.87 a barrel.

Gold fell from records set the previous session, briefly dipping below $US1500 a barrel. The fall came as the smaller market for silver showed increased volatility amid a speculative frenzy.

After setting records for seven of the last eight sessions, silver ended nearly 10% below Monday's intraday record of $US49.820 an ounce. The May contract fell $US2.099, or 4.5%, to settle at $US45.050.

The silver market has risen 52% this year while gold has gained only 5.9%. The most-active contract, for June delivery, fell $US5.60, or 0.4%, to settle at $US1503.50 an ounce while the nearby April contract also slid $US5.60, or 0.4%, to end at $US1503.00.

Currencies: US dollar’s decline continues
Traders continued to punish the US dollar on doubts the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy.

The dollar weakened overnight as traders returning from a four-day weekend in Europe sat on negative dollar bets. The euro rose to a 16-month high of $US1.4653 and the dollar hit a record low against the Swiss franc.

The euro was trading at $US1.4647 compared with $US1.4583 late on Monday in New York. The dollar was at ¥81.81 from ¥81.69.