Global shares rise as economic outlook brightens
Global equity markets rose today on signs of a healthier European financial system and a brighter outlook for Germany, while US stocks extended a rally to an eighth day, their best run since late 2004.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 48.75 points, or 0.35 percent, at 13,874.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.17 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,500.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.28 points, or 0.58 percent, at 3,148.67.
European shares scaled fresh multi-month peaks today, with forecast-beating German data and bigger-than-expected paybacks of crisis-time loans by banks fuelling the conviction that the region is on the recovery path.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares closed 0.32 percent higher at 1,174.81.
The EuroSTOXX 50 index of euro zone blue chips provisionally closed up 0.8 percent at 2,744.18 after setting a fresh 18-month intra-day peak of 2,748.13.
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2.9 percent to log an 11th straight week of gains, its longest such run since 1971, after a drop in the yen to a 2-1/2-year low against the dollar spurred exporters higher and fuelled optimism about earnings.
The Nikkei 225 scored its biggest one-day gain in nearly two years to end at 10,926.65, its highest close in 32 months.
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