Global shares gain on encouraging US earnings

US stocks rose today, as the first group of earnings reports started to trickle in, without giving a clear direction of how well corporations did during the fourth quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 61.66 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,390.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 3.87 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.00 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,105.81.

Rallying telecom stocks and a bullish start to the new earnings season propelled Europe's top shares to fresh closing highs.

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 7.78 points, or 0.7 percent at 1,167.98, surpassing Friday's 22-month closing high, also helped by a bullish start to the U.S. earnings season after aluminium giant Alcoa's in-line profits and above-consensus revenues.

Japan's Nikkei average rose today, as a halt in the yen's gains prompted investors to buy shares of exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co who would gain from a more competitive currency.

The Nikkei has rallied nearly 22 percent over the past two months, led by exporters as the yen weakened after new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on the central bank to adopt an aggressive monetary policy to energise the ailing economy, including setting an inflation target of 2 percent.

The Nikkei gained 0.7 percent to 10,578.57, breaching above its five-day moving average at 10,553.79, after trading as low as 10,398.61 earlier in the session.

Japan's broader Topix added 0.8 percent to 879.05 in active trade, with 3.67 billion shares changing hands.