US stocks closed slightly higher on a strong sign of recovery in US housing sector. The Commerce Department said on Monday that sales of new homes rose by 11% in June. Earning news dominated the market in recent trading sessions with most of the reports beating the expectation.
US stocks rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank is winding down its emergency lending programs established to end the financial crisis.
Wall Street posted a strong gain overnight with Dow index jumped above 9000 points mark for the first time since January. The market was bolstered by upbeat housing data and favourable corporate earnings.
Wall Street finished mixed overnight. Dow and S&P 500 indices ended their rising streak while Nasdaq posted its 11th straight rise led by Apple and Yahoo. Investors started to lock in their profits from a series of rallies driven by earnings reports.
Wall Street posted modest gains on Tuesday in choppy trade as investors started to be cautious after the recent rallies inspired by earnings results. In addition, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in testimony the pace of decline appears to have slowed significantly, but the financial system remained stressed and the labour market had continued to deteriorate.
The Australian market closed firmer yesterday on stronger commodities prices and good leads from overseas markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 49.5 points, or 1.24 per cent, at 4050.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 51.3 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 4044.2 points.
The Australian shares ended slightly lower after rise in early trade. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 5.2 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4000.8 while the broader All Ordinaries lost 5.1 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 3992.9 points. For the week, both indices surged more than 5 per cent, the strongest week in four months. The local market started in positive territory today led by the gains in Wall Street.
