Monday, February 7, 2011

Wall Street extends gains on M&A, earnings

The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to their highest levels since June 2008 as a flurry of merger news and solid earnings sparked broad gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 77.99 points, or 0.64 percent, at 12,170.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.88 points, or 0.75 percent, at 1,320.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21.26 points, or 0.77 percent, at 2,790.56.

Strong earnings helped lift European shares to a 29-month high, while oil and mining stocks also provided support on rising commodity prices.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.9 percent at 1,175.20 points, having touched 1,177.93 - the highest level since early September 2008.

Japan's Nikkei average extended gains to hit a nine-month high, helped by a fall in the US jobless rate, a weaker yen against the dollar and after generally strong Japanese corporate earnings reports last week.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 0.5 percent or 48.52 points at 10,592.04, after earlier hitting 10,644.21, its highest level since May 6.