US housing boost pushes Wall Street higher

Stocks on Wall Street pushed higher as home-builder sentiment hit its highest level in more than four years.

The National Association of Home Builders' housing market index for January came in at a stronger-than-expected reading of 25, its highest since June 2007.

Technology and financial stocks led the advance, helped by encouraging news at Yahoo and Goldman Sachs Group.

Bank of America rose 4.9% and JP Morgan Chase gained 4.7% to lead the Dow components. Utilities and consumer-staple stocks pulled on the downside.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 96.88 points, or 0.8%, at 12,578.95 (10am NZ time). The S&P500 index was up 1.1% to 1308.04, its first rise above 1300 since July and the 14th positive session in the past 18 sessions.

The Nasdaq Composite added 1.1% to 2769.71.

Other markets: Europe holds gains, Asia mixed
European markets were little changed. The Stoxx Europe 600 finished up 0.1% at 253.48 after falling as much as 0.9% earlier in the session.

France's CAC-40 finished with a small loss – down 0.1% at 3264.93.. London's FTSE 100 Index was up 0.1% at 5702.37 and Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.3% at 6354.57.

Japanese stocks led most Asian markets higher as fears about the global economic outlook abated. At the end of a choppy day's trading, the Nikkei Stock Average ended 1% higher at 8,550.58.

Mainland Chinese stocks fell on concern Beijing was unlikely to ease its monetary policy aggressively. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4% to 2266.38 a day after it surged 4.2% in the wake of better-than-expected fourth-quarter economic data.

Australia’s S&P/ASX200 index rose marginally to 4217.90, bringing its gain for the year to 4%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3% to 19,686.92 and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.2% to 7,233.69.

Korea's Kospi closed little changed at 1892.39 and India's Sensex ended 0.1% lower at 16,451.47.

Commodities: Oil, gold down
Oil futures slipped to just above $US100 a barrel after reports the White House will reject a Canadian company’s proposal to build a pipeline from the US-Canada border to the Gulf of Mexico.

Crude for February delivery declined 53USc to $US100.18 a barrel in New Yorkafter trading as high as $US102.06.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 85USc lower at $US110.68 a barrel.

Gold gave back recent gains as traders sold the metal after it settled at its best in more than a month in the previous session.

Futures for February delivery lost $US11.60, or 0.7%, to $US1644 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Euro rises on beefed-up IMF
The euro and the commodity-linked currencies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada firmed against the US dollar on reports of a potentially beefed-up International Monetary Fund.

Reports said the IMF's lending capacity could be boosted to $US1 trillion to protect the global economy against any escalation of the euro-zone's debt crisis

The euro was at $US1.2818 compared with $US1.2736 late on Tuesday.

The dollar was at ¥76.81, compared with ¥76.83, while the euro was at ¥98.455 compared with ¥97.86.

The UK pound traded at $US1.5409 from $US1.5336, while the dollar bought 0.9425 Swiss franc from 0.9495 franc.