Wall Street bounces back, gold hits record

Stocks on Wall Street rebounded and gold futures touched $US1500 an ounce for the first time.

Shares dropped the most in a month on Monday but surged back on Tuesday boosted by strong earnings from Johnson & Johnson. Its shares gained 2.4% after it beat first-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year earnings outlook.

Energy stocks also were strong, as oil jumped 1% higher to almost $US109 a barrel. Exxon Mobil and Chevron gained 0.8% each.

In economic news, US home construction in March bounced back from the previous month's low levels, though overall numbers for the sector remained weak.

At the close (8am NZT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 65.47 points, or 0.5%, to 12,267.06, while the S&P 500 index was up 0.6% to 1312.53 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.35% to 2744.97.

Commodities: Gold rises to record, oil up
Gold futures broke records for a second day as investment demand for the metal soared.

The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, settled $US2.20, or 0.2%, higher at $US1,495.10 an ounce in New York after hitting a record $US1,500.50.

The April contract was up 0.2%, or $US2.20, at $US1494.50 after setting a record at $US1499.50.

Crude oil futures turned higher. The May contract for light, sweet crude oil expired at $US108.15 a barrel, a rise of $US1.03 or, or 1%.

The more-actively traded June contract settled 59USc, or 0.6%, up at $US108.28 a barrel. May Brent crude oil on the ICE futures exchange fell 28USc, or 0.2%, to $121.33 a barrel.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stock markets rose Tuesday, led by auto and luxury-goods shares, and supported by strong euro-zone manufacturing data and bargain hunting after Monday's selloff.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.5% to 274.42. The UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.5% to 5896.87 while Germany's DAX index rose 0.2% to 7039.31 and France's CAC-40 index gained 0.7% to 3908.58.

Asian shares fell after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on US government debt.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.2% to 9441.03, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 1.4% to 4793.30, China's Shanghai Composite shed 1.9% to 2,999.04 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.3% to 23,520.62.

Taiwan's Taiex slid 0.9% to 8638.55 and Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7% to 2122.68. India bucked the trend with a 0.2% rise to 19,121.83.

Currencies: Euro rises on strong growth
The euro bounced back, climbing against the dollar after the euro zone showed surprising growth.

The euro rose to $US1.4318 from $US1.4233 late on Monday when it was hammered by fresh concerns about sovereign debt problems.

The dollar was at ¥82.41, compared with ¥82.71, while the euro was at ¥117.98 from ¥117.68. The pound was trading at $1.6315, up from $1.6265.