International markets roundup
A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK - The Dow has jumped back above 17,000 following a strong report on US consumer confidence and another round of mostly solid corporate earnings.
At the closing bell on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,001.60, up 183.66 points (1.09 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 23.01 (1.17 per cent) to 1,984.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index soared 78.36 (1.75 per cent) to 4,564.29.
The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index rose to 94.5 in October from 89.0 in September, a cheery sign for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
LONDON - European stock markets closed up and Wall Street has rallied as US company quarterly results began flowing in and investors awaited a key meeting of the Federal Reserve.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index advanced 0.61 per cent to 6,402.17 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 jumped 1.86 per cent to 9,068.19 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed just 0.39 per cent to 4,112.67, dragged down by drugmaker Sanofi's 10.64 per cent nosedive.
Madrid surged 1.75 per cent and Milan spiked 2.35 per cent, recovering from a shaky Monday after the European Central Bank failed nine Italian banks on stress tests.
The euro strengthened against the dollar, to $US1.2744 from $US1.2699 late in New York on Monday.
HONG KONG - Asian markets finished mixed before the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which will be closely scrutinised for clues to its plans on interest rates.
Wall Street provided little direction as investors took a breather after last week's strong performance across all three main indexes.
Tokyo was down 0.38 per cent, or 58.81 points, at 15,329.91 on Tuesday, Sydney shed 0.12 per cent, or 6.35 points, to close at 5,452.6 and Seoul fell 0.33 per cent, or 6.29 points, to close at 1,925.68.
But Hong Kong tacked on 1.63 per cent, or 377.13 points, to 23,520.36.
Shanghai climbed 2.07 per cent, or 47.43 points, to 2,337.87 after Monday's sell-off sparked by news of a delay to plans for a cross-trading platform between the two markets.
WELLINGTON - The NZX 50 Index rose 4.505 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5338.331.
