Stocks in the United States ended higher on Thursday as signs of progress on the US debt talks and concrete action from Europe on its own debt crisis heartened investors.
The new bailout for Greece includes debt restructuring and an expansion of the European bailout fund. It will also involve private lenders for the first time.
The Dow Jones Index rose 153 points, or 1.2%, to close at 12,724. The Nasdaq Composite rose 20 points, or 0.7%, at 2834.
Earlier, European shares closed at their highest in nearly two weeks on Thursday. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.8%, the CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.7% and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 1%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index rose 6 points to close at 4556.
The NZX 50 rose 13 points, or 0.4%, to close at 3421 on Thursday.
At 8.20am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 86.31 US cents, 79.63 Australian cents, 52.92 pence, 67.61 yen and 0.5992 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 73.89.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US119.64 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1587.35 per ounce.
