Stocks on Wall Street are tipped to set another milestone this week as the blue chip Dow index crosses the 11,000 level for the first time in 18 months.The March quarter reporting season opens in the coming week with five components in the Dow Jones Indus
Stocks on Wall Street are tipped to set another milestone this week as the blue chip Dow index crosses the 11,000 level for the first time in 18 months.
The March quarter reporting season opens in the coming week with five components in the Dow Jones Industrial Average due, starting with Alcoa and Intel.
The Dow briefly crossed above the 11,000 level in the last minutes of trade on Friday, climbing to 11000.98, before ending at 10997.35.
The move extends a rally that's lifted the Dow 4.11% in the first quarter and 5.15% in March.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 17.24, or 0.71%, to 2454.05, its highest close since June 19, 2008. The S&P 500 advanced 7.93, or 0.67%, to 1194.37, its highest close since September 26, 2008, as the global financial crisis intensified.
The S&P 500 went to lose nearly 23% in the fourth quarter of 2008, followed by an almost 12% drop in the first quarter of 2009, before eventually hitting the bottom in early March 2009.
Relief over Greece sent European shares higher last week. Fitch Ratings cut Greece's credit rating two notches to BBB-minus and said its outlook for the future was negative.
But this was accompanied by simultaneous reports of a rescue package.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.3% to 269.74 on stronger US consumption data that confirmed the recovery was well under way. The index ended the week up 0.8%, its sixth consecutive weekly gain.
Hong Kong led Asian markets higher in a strong end to the post-Easter week.
Australian coal stocks surged on takeover activity in the industry while South Korean shares lost ground as the local currency strengthened.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies closed 0.3% higher to 11,204.34, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% 4948.09.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.6% 22,208.50 and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.9% 3145.35.
Of markets trading to the downside, Korea's Kospi dropped 0.5% to 1724.47 and Indonesia's Jakarta index edged down 0.3% 2845.01.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude oil futures ended lower for a third day on growing fears that oil and fuel inventories are rising faster than demand.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 47USc, or 0.6%, to $US84.92 a barrel in New York. Crude futures have dropped nearly $US2 a barrel since ending Tuesday at a 17-month high near $87.
Gold futures found firmer footing, reaching a four-month high as a downgrade for Greece refreshed concerns about European debt and the global economic recovery.
Most-active June gold rose $US9, or 0.8%, to settle at $US1161.90 an ounce in New York after hitting $US1165.80, its highest point since December 8.
Thinly traded nearby April gold reached $US1164.80, the highest front-month gold price since December 8, before settling at $US1161.10, up $US8.90, or 0.8%.
Gold futures rose 3.2% for the week, extending gains for the second consecutive week.
Currencies: Euro up, dollar down
The euro shot higher amid talk of an imminent bailout package for debt-strapped Greece, helping to boost demand for riskier assets including stocks and most commodities.
In volatile trading, it had strengthened 1.1% by late afternoon, rebounding from a brief intraday dip after Fitch Ratings downgraded Greek debt to near-junk status to brush up against $US1.35 even as no solid plans for a bailout emerged.
The euro finished trading in New York at $US1.3471, compared with $US1.3349 late on Thursday.
The dollar snapped a five-session winning streak, weakening to ¥93.23 from ¥93.36.
The euro strengthened to ¥125.59 from ¥124.63. The U.˚ pound was at $US1.5371 from $US1.5267.
The dollar moved to 1.0663 Swiss francs from 1.0739 francs.
