World markets overnight: Nasdaq approaches March 2000 all-time high

Stocks on Wall Street rose with the Nasdaq Composite Index trading within striking distance of its all-time high reached in March 2000.

The rise continues a back-and-forth momentum as other world markets made slight gains and gold fell to a three-week low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.68 points, or 0.5%, to 18,038.27 and the S&P 500 gained 10.67 points, or 0.5%, to 2107.96.

The Dow is 1.6% away from its record of 18,288.63 and the S&P is trading 0.6% below its closing high of 2117.39.

The Nasdaq Composite added 21.07 points, or 0.4%, to 5035.17. The tech-heavy index is approaching its record of 5048.62 hit in March 2000.

First quarter corporate reporting continues to dominate sentiment. With results in from 113 companies in the S&P 500, earnings are on track to fall 3.9% from a year earlier. Three-quarters of those companies have beaten profit expectations that were slashed heading into the reporting season.

McDonald’s reported a 2.6% drop in US sales during its first quarter and posted a larger-than-expected decline in profit amid foreign-currency impacts and restructuring charges. Shares rose 2.8% as total revenue was in line with Wall Street expectations.

Coca-Cola  reported better-than-expected profit and revenue in its first quarter, while Boeing said first-quarter profit rose 38%, but its revenue growth didn’t keep pace.

International markets
European stocks finished largely flat as investors weighed a slight easing of tensions in Greek markets against some mixed corporate earnings.

The Stoxx Europe 600 ended little changed, having swung between small gains and losses during the session.

France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.4%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.6%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 closed 0.5% lower.

UK retailer Tesco  was among the biggest decliners after it reported a huge full-year loss amid a raft of charges.

In Asia, Japanese stocks gained, pushing the Nikkei Stock Average to close above 20,000 for the first time since 2000. The rally is fuelled not only by international exporters but also by companies selling consumer staples domestically.

Commodities and currencies
Gold futures for June delivery fell 1.3% to $US1186.90 an ounce – a three-week low – after strong US housing data bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the next few months.

Crude-oil futures eased 0.8% to $US56.16 a barrel in New York. Brent, the global benchmark, traded up 69USc, or 1.1%, to $US62.77 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

The US dollar traded flat against the euro, buying $US1.0735 and remaining in the $1.05-1.10 band it has been in since February. The dollar gained 0.4% against the yen, rising to ¥119.65 as investors bet on further easing of the Bank of Japan ’s monetary policy.