Strong euro spills over to US markets to fuel rise
THE major US stock indexes rose nearly 3 per cent on Thursday, a day after a late-day sell-off that had reversed strong gains in what has been a volatile month on Wall Street.
The rise came amid questions over whether expectations of an economic recovery have been overly optimistic.
The strength in the euro helped pull European stocks from an early slump and spilled over to the United States. Movements in US stocks have been closely tied to swings in the euro as investors use the currency as a barometer for confidence in the euro-zone economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 273.28 points, or 2.76 per cent, to 10,172.53. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 31.15 points, or 2.95 per cent, to 1,086.84 and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 59.86 points, or 2.77 per cent, to 2,218.71.
Energy shares gave one of the biggest boosts to the market, with the S&P energy sector up 4.9 per cent, making it the top percentage gainer among S&P sectors.