Wall Street's S&P500 tops 1400
MARKET CLOSE: Energy led the broader US market to a three-month high.
Wall Street’s broad S&P 500 index topped 1400 for the first time in three months, led by gains in energy shares.
At the close (8am NZ time), the benchmark was up 0.9% to 1401.35, with every company in the energy group rising. Chesapeake, the second-largest US natural gas producer, jumped on higher-than-expected revenue and asset-sale plans.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51.09 points, or 0.4%, to 13,168.60, extending gains into a third consecutive day.
The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.9% to 3015.86.
Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European markets edged mostly higher, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.1% at 266.95.
In the UK, Standard Chartered shares plunged after the New York State Department of Financial Services alleged that a unit at the bank handled at least $US250 billion in illegal transactions with Iranian entities. The bank said it "strongly rejects" the allegations.
UK industrial production slumped 2.5% in June after rising 1% in May. The FTSE 100, which had been hovering around the flat line, fell 0.2% to 5798.38.
In Germany's manufacturing sector, incoming orders fell more than expected in June. The DAX index was flat immediately after the figures but then recovered to trade up 0.2% at 6932.92.
France's CAC 40 was 0.4% higher at 3414.65. Spain's IBEX 35 was up 0.8% at 7107.70 and Greece's ASE index increased 2.1% to 621.14.
Asian markets were broadly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average advancing 0.9% to 8803.31, after the Bank of Japan extended measures encouraging companies to buy foreign assets in order to curb yen strength.
Australian mining companies helped the resource-heavy S&P ASX 200 post a 0.4% gain to 4291.60. Standard Chartered skidded 7.4% in Hong Kong but the Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 20,072.55.
Commodities: Oil up, gold down
Crude-oil futures added 1.4% to $US93.50 a barrel, while gold futures eased less than 0.1% to $US1615.50 an ounce.
The US dollar fell against the euro but gained ground against the yen.
Nevil Gibson
Wed, 08 Aug 2012
Wed, 08 Aug 2012
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Wall Street's S&P500 tops 1400
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