Global shares rally on data, US earnings

US stocks rallied on Tuesday, giving the S&P 500 its best two-day advance in a month as strong earnings from Johnson & Johnson and other bellwether companies raised hopes for the rest of the US reporting season.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 127.55 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 13,551.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 14.79 points, or 1.03 percent, to finish at 1,454.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 36.99 points, or 1.21 percent, to end at 3,101.17.

Gains in financial shares led European stock markets higher, and persistent speculation Spain may be edging closer to asking for a sovereign bailout also lifted equities.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index closed up 1.4 percent at 1,113.14 points. The euro zone Euro STOXX 50 index also rose 2.5 percent to 2,547.90 points, marking its best intraday-gain since a 3.4 percent rise on Sept. 6.

Japan's Nikkei share average advanced 1.4 percent as index heavyweight Softbank Corp rebounded after the company reassured investors a US$20 billion deal to buy 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp would not dilute their shares.

The Nikkei added 123.38 points to 8,701.31 as investors picked up battered cyclical stocks that were hurt last

week on worries about poor earnings from companies hit by a global slowdown, a strong yen and anti-Japanese sentiment in China.

The broader Topix rose 1.3 percent to 732.40 in moderate trade, with volume at 98.3 percent of its 90-day average.