Wall Street posts modest gains

Stocks on Wall Street rose modestly to new multi-year highs, pushed up by Apple and positive housing news..

Apple shares rose 1.3% as it announced it would pay a dividend and buy back $US10 billion in stock.

US home builders' confidence in the housing market held steady in March at the highest level in nearly five years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 6.51 points to 13,239.13 at the close (9am NZ time). Last week, the Dow posted the biggest weekly point and percentage gain since the week ending December 23, 2011, although blue chips declined 20 points, or 0.2%, on Friday.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.4%, to 1409.75 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% to 3078.32.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed
European stock markets posted minor losses, though a Greek credit-default swaps settlement auction raised no problems.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index finished down 0.1% at 272.06. London's FTSE 100 Index was 0.1% lower at 5961.11, Paris' CAC 40 Index fell 0.5% to 3577.88 and Frankfurt's DAX dipped 0.1% at 7154.22.

Asian markets ended mixed, though shares in Tokyo climbed for the fifth straight session, with a weaker yen underpinning Japanese exporters.

The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1% to 10,141.99, its highest finish since the disasters of last March.

Korea's Kospi rose 0.6% to 2047.00 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.3% to 4290.8, but Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.1% to 8043.92.

China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.2% at 2410.18 higher after a choppy trading session, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1% to 21,115.29 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.7% to 2990.09.

Commodities: Oil up, gold steady
Crude oil futures were stronger with the near-expired April contract up 72USc at $US107.76 a barrel, while the more active May contract was up 67USc at $US108.25 a barrel.

Gold futures were near unchanged. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, was 20USc lower at $US1655.60 a n ounce in New York.

Currencies: US dollar pressured
The US dollar came under pressure against the yen. The dollar traded at ¥83.12 compared with ¥83.45 late on Friday in New York, while the euro was at ¥109.38 from ¥109.96.

The pound was at $US1.5878 from $US1.5858 and the euro was trading at $US1.3164 compared with $US1.3177.