Wall Street stocks posted their biggest gains in nearly two months on Tuesday, as retail sales figures allayed fears over the economy that had driven a six-week slump in the market.
The rise came despite figures showing US retail sales fell in May for the first time in 11 months.
The Dow Jones Index was up 123 points, or 1%, to 12,076. The Nasdaq Composite was up 39 points, or 1.5%, at 2678.
European stocks also closed higher on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 index in London rose 0.5% to 5803 points and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 1.7% to 7204 points. The CAC-40 in Paris gained 1.5% to 3864 points.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index closed on Tuesday up 22 points, or 0.5%, at 4584.
The NZX 50 closed up 12 points, or 0.3%, at 3488.
At 8.07am, the New Zealand dollar was buying 81.84 US cents, 76.55 Australian cents, 49.97 pence, 65.86 yen and 0.5662 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 70.36.
Brent crude oil is still trading at a record high of $US121.74 per barrel. Gold was trading at $US1523.60 per ounce.
