World markets overnight: Stocks, gold continue to rise

The two main benchmarks on Wall Street closed at all-time highs as the first quarter earnings reports tailed off.

Other world markets also made modest gains while gold continued its strong run on fears of a Greek sovereign debt default.

Oil was steady as Saudi Arabia stepped up production.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 26.32 points, or 0.1%, to 18,298.88, its first record close since March 2.

The S&P 500 index gained 6.47 points, or 0.3%, to 2129.2, its ninth record close of the year. 

The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 30.15 points, or 0.6%, to 5078.44, still shy of its April 24 record of 5092.09.

Despite these levels, stocks rises are small and reflect weak recent economic data.

The outlook for earnings growth and future stock-market gains is also not strong.

Recent data show a sharp drop in consumer sentiment and a further decline in industrial production.

The National Association of Home Builders says confidence in May fell two points to a reading of 54. The figure came in below expectations of 58.

In other world markets,
European stocks ended a choppy session as a fresh slide in the euro supported exporters.

Germany’s DAX ended 1.3% higher, spurring the Stoxx Europe 600 to a 0.4% rise.

France’s CAC, London’s FTSE 100 and other indexes in both northern and southern Europe were stronger, too.

The Stoxx Europe 600 is up more than 16% so far this year, largely thanks to a surge in the dollar during the start of 2015.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks neared a three-week high, helped by a modestly stronger dollar and solid earnings from Japanese financial firms.
China’s central bank continued to peg the yuan at its highest level against the US dollar in over a year.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.6% ahead of a slew of initial public offerings expected to soak up cash.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 0.8% after weak China housing data sunk property developers.
Australian shares ended notably lower, led by a selloff in the financial sector amid concerns about the country’s weak economy and overheating housing market.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3% to 5659.2 points, while financial stocks excluding property trusts tumbled 2.1% – the heaviest decline in 12 days.

Commodities and currencies

Gold futures added 0.2% to $US1227.80 an ounce. Gold is at its highest level in three months as doubts rose about Greece’s ability to pay its debts.

Crude-oil futures fell 0.1% to $US59.61 a barrel. Saudi Arabia posted its highest level of monthly exports in nearly 10 years.

The global Brent oil contract was down 0.3% at $US66.59 a barrel.

In currency trading, the euro was 0.3% lower against the US dollar at $US1.1355 after gaining almost 2.5% during the previous week.