25 Mar 2011

US and European markets up

8:59 am on 25 March 2011

Stocks in the United States have risen, helped by optimism about earnings and investors buying the quarter's high performers.

The Dow Jones Index on Thursday was up 99 points, or 0.8%, to 12,180.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 39 points, or 1.45%, to 2738.

European shares rose to a two-week closing high. The FTSE 100 in London rose 1.6%, the DAX in Frankfurt gained 2% and and the CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.5%.

The Australian 200 Index rose 1% on Thursday, gaining 47 points to close at 4700.

The NZX 50 gained 11 points to close at 3387.

At 8.08am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 74.99 US cents, 73.37 Australian cents, 46.57 pence, 60.74 yen and 0.5294 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 65.59.

Brent crude oil was trading at $US116.30 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1437.70 per ounce.