S&P 500 ends at 5-yr high, as European shares weaken

Bank and commodity shares led the Standard & Poor's 500 to a fresh five-year closing high today on hopes that the global economy continues to mend.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 62.43 points or 0.46 percent, to end at 13,712.13. The S&P 500 gained 6.52 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1,492.50. The Nasdaq Composite added 8.47 points or 0.27 percent to close at 3,143.18.

European shares dipped today, after a choppy session, as the prospect of price war in the French telecom sector outweighed signs of economic improvement in Germany.

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed down 0.1 percent at 1,165.49, having pared back earlier losses after a technical sell-off that started on Germany's blue-chip DAX index.

The Nikkei share average ended lower today in volatile trade, erasing gains scored immediately after the Bank of Japan set a 2 percent inflation target and made an open-ended commitment to buy assets but delayed action on that pledge until next year.

The Nikkei shed 0.4 percent to end at 10,709.93 after rising as much as 1 percent following the BOJ announcement. It retreated for a second day in a row from Friday's nearly three-year closing high of 10,913.30.

The broader Topix slipped 0.4 percent to 901.15 in active trade, with 3.92 billion shares changing hands, up from last week's average daily volume of 3.73 billion shares.