A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – The S&P and the Dow were on track to register their first five-day streak of gains since October as a surge in oil prices lifted energy and materials stocks on Monday.
Crude prices, which have largely dictated the direction of the stock market this year, extended gains and were up more than 5.0 per cent. Brent crude was above $US40 a barrel, its highest since early December.
“Oil is stabilizing and that is helping to bolster sentiment in overall equity returns,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.
“It appears that the extreme bearish scenarios are being discounted at the moment, and there seems to be a bias to the upside.”
The Dow stayed above 17,000 on Monday, after breaching the psychologically important level on Friday, while the S&P 500 hovered near the 2,000 mark.
At 1235 ET (1735 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.84 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 17,077.61 and the S&P 500 was up 3.34 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 2,003.33.
The Nasdaq Composite index was up 6.21 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 4,723.23. The last time the Nasdaq logged five straight days of gains was in April.
Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by the energy sector’s 1.9 per cent increase. Shares of Exxon were up 1.8 per cent and those of Chevron rose 2.4 per cent.
The S&P materials sector was up 1.2 per cent.
Caterpillar was up 3.7 per cent at $US75.66, giving the biggest boost to the Dow.
A string of upbeat data from major economies and stabilizing commodity prices have helped improve sentiment ahead of a relatively quiet week in terms of data for Wall Street as corporate earnings season draws to a close.
LONDON – Gains for the mining sector after a surge in the price of iron ore have helped Britain’s blue-chip stock index off its lowest levels, and a rise in Old Mutual shares also lent support.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 17.03 points or 0.3 per cent at 6,182.40 points by the close on Monday, following a three-week-long rally which has seen the index gain more than 8 per cent.
Monday’s drop was broad-based, with all sectors, bar the materials sector, finishing in negative territory.
The sector reversed early losses to end up 4.4 per cent at its highest level since October after iron ore prices surged 20 per cent to an eight-month high on expectations that Chinese steel mills are planning a short-term output boost.
Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto each rose between 5.0 per cent and 7.0 per cent.
South Africa-orientated life insurance company Old Mutual was among top individual gainers, surging 6.9 per cent to hit a three-month high and posting its best day since December 2011.
A media report on Saturday said the company was planning a STG9 billion break-up which could trigger a takeover battle for its various operations.
Old Mutual said it was considering all options available to it under the strategic review announced in November, but had not yet made any decision on the review process.
HONG KONG – Asian shares generally rose on Monday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent to its highest since January 4. It has recouped about 80 per cent of its losses since the start of 2016.
Japanese shares snapped a four-day winning streak as the yen strengthened and investors took profits on last week’s sharp rally. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6 per cent.
Chinese shares rose after Prime Minister Li Keqiang spelled out on Saturday a new five-year economic plan, which included an average growth target of 6.5 to 7 per cent and a moderate increase in the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP this year.
“Chinese investors weren’t expecting big fiscal stimulus at all so there’s no disappointment there,” said Naoki Tashiro, president of TS China Research.
The CSI300 index of the biggest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed up 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 per cent.
WELLINGTON – New Zealand shares rose slightly to close at another all-time high as the market took a breather post earnings season.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index edged up 0.8 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 6,418.93.
