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Stock market high in pre-Christmas trading

28 December 2009 08:19 (UTC +04:00)

BakÄ±. Vahab Rzayev - APA-Economics. Sharemarkets in North America and Europe all ended the pre-Christmas trading period on cheery note for investors, NBR reported.
Stocks on Wall Street rose to new highs for the year on as a bigger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims heartened investors.
Canadian stocks made their biggest weekly gain in nearly two months while in Europe the British and French markets closed at new highs for the year.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher for the fourth successive sessions, rising 1.9% for the week. It gained 53.66 points, or 0.5%, to close on Christmas Eve at 10,520.10, its highest since October 2008.
Alcoa and DuPont were among the Dow’s strongest components. Alcoa climbed 2.1%, while DuPont rose 1.1%. Travelers was also strong, up 1.6%, while United Technologies gained 1.2%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7% to 2285.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to 1126.48, led by its materials and technology sectors.
Canadian stocks rose for a fourth day. Bank of Nova Scotia gained 1.4% and Suncor Energy climbed 1.5% as oil rallied. Goldcorp added 1.4% as the US dollar fell against the euro for a second day.
The S&P TSX Composite Index rose 95.91 points, or 0.8%, to a three-week high of 11,754.61, a 2.5% gain for the week.
European shares posted mild gains. Markets were closed on Christmas Eve in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and Spain. The French and UK markets posted new highs ahead for 2009.
The French CAC-40 Index closed up 0.1% at 3,912.73 â€“ its highest finish in 14 months. The UK FTSE 100 Index closed at a 15-month high of 5402.41, a gain of 0.6%.