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World stock markets rally

12 June 2009 07:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Investors welcomed a better-than-expected report on jobless claims and growth in retail sales, pushing stocks higher Thursday, AP reported.
The market extended its gains after an auction for 30-year Treasury bonds attracted strong demand, allowing investors to set aside some of their recent worries about higher interest rates. Stocks had finished lower on Wednesday following a relatively weak auction for 10-year notes.
In late afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.98, or 1.1 percent, to 8,835.00. The S&P 500 rose 12.39, or 1.3 percent, to 951.54, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 19.15, or 1 percent, to 1,872.23.
A weakening dollar, which can drive up prices of imported goods and commodities, has also brought worries of inflation. The dollar fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. Oil prices rose $1.35 to settle at $72.68 a barrel.
Oil has been rising, in part, as more investors look for a safe haven to stash money in because the declining value of the dollar.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 873.4 million shares, compared with 885.7 million at the same time Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.35, or 1.2 percent, to 530.06.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.9 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX index gained 1.1 percent, and France’s CAC-40 gained 0.6 percent.