Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, oil rally after US manufacturing data

Reuters: US Dollar Report Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, oil rally after US manufacturing data Apr 2nd 2012, 20:43 Mon Apr 2, 2012 4:43pm EDT * Stocks, crude oil rally on U.S. manufacturing data * Stronger data lifts sentiment after weak European reading * U.S. government debt trims some gains on U.S. ISM report * Dollar gains after weak European PMI reports By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Global equity markets rallied, with U.S. stocks pushing to four-year highs, and crude oil rebounded on Mo nday after better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data boosted investor sentiment. Energy and basic materials stocks led an equity rally that pushed the broad-based S&P 500 to intraday highs last seen in May 2008, while the Dow notched highs last seen in December 2007. Sentiment had soured a bit on a spate of weak European factory data. Wall Street opened slightly lower but the three major U.S. stock indexes advanced broadly after the Institute for Supply Management reported the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up a tad in March. ISM said its index of U.S. factory activity rose to 53.4 from 52.4 in February, topping economists' consensus forecast for a reading of 53.0. The upbeat U.S. data and an 11-month high in the official Chinese purchasing manufacturing index lifted European shares to their biggest daily gain in three weeks. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Basic Resources share index rose 2.3 percent, with UK-listed miners Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton up between 3 percent and 4 percent. In the United States, an S&P index of materials stocks rose 1.4 percent. "The market is telling you it believes the (U.S.) economy has turned around, it has made that corner, it is clearly moving higher - especially compared to Europe and parts of Asia," said Ken Polcari, managing director of ICAP Equities in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average added 52.45 points, or 0.40 percent, to 13,264.49 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 10.57 points, or 0.75 percent, to 1,419.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 28.13 points, or 0.91 percent, to 3,119.70. The FTSEurofirst 300 Index of top regional shares closed 1.5 percent higher at 1,085.04. The MSCI all-country world equity index climbed almost 1 percent. Crude oil erased early losses to turn higher on the U.S. ISM report. Oil, like other assets viewed as risky, traded lower early in the session as Europe's contraction in factory activity outweighed a brighter manufacturing outlook in China, South Korea and Taiwan, three of Asia's leading exporters. China's official PMI was tempered by a separate private survey from HSBC, which painted a gloomier picture. "PMIs out of Europe are another reminder of the extent economies have gone down," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst with Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. "Strong U.S. data this week is likely to see the dollar strengthen on rising yield appeal." Brent crude for May delivery settled up $2.55 at $125.43 a barrel. U.S. May crude gained $2.21 to settle at $105.23 a barrel. The euro opened the second quarter of 2012 lower against the dollar and yen as the weak European manufacturing data highlighted a growing split between the economic outlooks of the United States and the euro zone. The weak data should keep European Central Bank monetary policy accommodative, but at the same time the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates at near zero until 2014. "We are looking at interest rates that are low in both the U.S. and Europe and that is why the euro has been stuck in a range, trading within the $1.33-$1.3350 area," said Daniel Wang, senior currency strategist at Forex.com in New York. The euro fell 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.3326, after hitting a session low of $1.3281. The euro slipped 1.4 percent to 109.28 yen. U.S. Treasuries rose, getting a mild lift from purchases of fund managers who saw Friday's sell-off as overdone and as data showed that fears over dramatically rising yields may be overstated in light of a still moderate U.S. economic recovery. Fresh balance sheets for the start of the second quarter boosted buying and retraced weakness from Friday, when Treasuries ended their worst quarter since the final quarter of 2010. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.20 percent. Gold prices were moderately higher. Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,677.46 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained $7.20 an ounce at $1,679.10. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions