German govt deal buoys stocks; euro at four-year high versus yen

Oil falls on US crude stocks

holiday. The US stock markets will be closed on Thursday. Regular trading will finish early at 1 pm (1800 GMT) on Friday.

The Nasdaq climbed to its highest intraday level since 2000, hitting 4,039.861 as tech shares got a lift from Apple Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co. Apple shares rose 2 percent to $544.06, near the highest since January. Hewlett-Packard’s stock shot up 7.7 percent to $27.01, the highest level since August after the company reported stronger-than-expected results late Tuesday.

“The Nasdaq broke above the key 4,000 level yesterday, so this is a good sign for markets going forward,” said Bryan Sapp, senior trading analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research, in Cincinnati.

“A break back below this area would be a warning sign to me, but it appears that markets will continue their slow grind higher during this shortened holiday week.”

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20.10 points, or 0.13 percent, at 16,092.90. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 3.18 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,805.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.893 points, or 0.47 percent, at 4,036.642.

Wall Street has soared this year, largely on expectations of continued stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 have risen more than 20 percent in 2013, hitting a series of all-time highs, while the Nasdaq closed above 4,000 for the first time since 2000 on Tuesday.

Among the data that increased optimism about the pace of global growth, weekly jobless claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell in the latest week, a sign of steady improvement in the labor market. Analysts were expecting a rise in claims. The S&P retail index rose 0.4 percent. But short sellers seemed to be targeting the retail sector, according to SunGard’s Astec Analytics.

Europe

European stock markets rose Wednesday after a deal was agreed in Germany to form a coalition government, while investors drew strength from mostly upbeat company news and US data.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.20 percent to close at 6,649.47 points, and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.36 percent to 4,293.06 points.

Meanwhile Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 0.66 percent to 9,351.13 points to set a new record close above the 9,300 level.

In European equity trading, shares in British catering firm Compass rose 1.3 percent to 938.5 pence after announcing that it will return £500 million cash to shareholders, despite falling annual net earnings.

In Paris, Vivendi shares gained 0.9 percent to 18.76 euros after management approved Tuesday a plan to spin off its Internet and mobile phone unit SFR to allow the French company to focus on media and content.

On the downside, French hotel group Accor saw its shares tumble 7.5 percent to 31.05 euros, with investors unconvinced by the company’s plan to reorganise the company into distinct hotel and real estate

arms.

UK

Britain’s benchmark equity index edged up on Wednesday, supported by a deal over a new German government that boosted appetite for more risk-sensitive stocks such as banks.

The FTSE 100 extended gains after US data came in above expectations in afternoon trade, ahead of the market shutdown for the US Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

Financials added the most points to the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.2 percent, or 13.25 points, at 6,649.47 points at the close.

On the downside, engineer AMEC was the biggest FTSE faller, down 3.9 percent, with traders citing a report in the Times that it was eyeing a takeover of Foster Wheeler.

Asource close to the matter said AMEC was looking at its Swiss-based rival among a number of potential acquisition targets, but was not in talks with the company. AMEC itself did not comment. Foster Wheeler were not available for comment.

AMEC also went ex-dividend on Wednesday, meaning investors will no longer qualify for its latest dividend payout, which accounted for around a third its fall.

Asia

Asian markets were mixed in quiet trade on Wednesday following another record close on Wall Street, while the euro rallied after a deal was agreed in Germany to form a coalition government.

Investors seemed little moved in early exchanges by news that two US B-52 bombers flew over a disputed area of the East China Sea without telling Beijing, in a challenge to China’s newly declared air defence identification zone.

Tokyo slipped 0.42 percent, or 65.61 points, to 15,449.63 and Sydney eased 0.45 percent, or 24.1 points, to 5,332.9 but Seoul ended up 0.31 percent, or 6.17 points, at 2,028.81 points, while Shanghai added 0.82 percent, or 18.00 points, to 2,201.07.

Hong Kong climbed 0.53 percent, or 125.07 points, to 23,806.35. In other markets: Bangkok rose 1.06 percent, or 14.42 points, to 1,373.11.

Coal producer Banpu gained 2.59 percent or 0.75 baht to 29.75 baht and PTT Plc rose 1.37 percent or 4.00 baht to 295.00 baht.

Jakarta added 0.38 percent, or 16.23 points, to 4,251.49.

Asia Pacific Fibers rose 2.56 percent to 80 rupiah, while Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper lost 1.96 percent to 1,500 rupiah.

Kuala Lumpur rose 0.02 percent, or 0.33 points, to 1,798.46.

Genting Malaysia ended 3.2 percent higher at 4.23 ringgit while RHB Capital lost 1.8 percent to 7.71.

Manila climbed 0.47 percent, adding 28.50 points to 6,053.87.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 0.85 percent to 2,604 pesos, JG Summit added 1.80 percent to 39.55 pesos and Metropolitan Bank ended 1.56 percent up to 75.00 pesos.

Mumbai slipped 0.02 percent, or 4.76 points, to 20,420.26.

Pharma firm Wockhardt slid 8.87 percent to 430.15 rupees and Jet Airways fell 4.11 percent to 293.8 rupees.

Singapore slipped 0.05 percent, or 1.45 points, to 3,172.06.

Singapore Telecom rose 1.90 percent to Sg$3.76 while real estate developer Capitaland eased 0.33 percent to Sg$3.01.

Taipei rose 0.58 percent, or 47.86 points, to 8,295.88.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co climbed 1.45 percent to Tw$105.0 while Taiwan Cement was 3.21 percent higher at Tw$45.0.

Wellington rose 0.18 percent, or 8.60 points, to 4,799.35.

Fletcher Building climbed 0.3 percent to NZ$9.22, Telecom added 2.4 percent to NZ$2.31 and Air New Zealand was 0.9 percent higher at NZ$1.64.

Oil

Brent oil futures dipped on Wednesday as a higher-than-expected build in US crude oil inventories weighed on prices, although losses were capped by unrest in Libya.

The build in stocks briefly lifted US crude, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), before it resumed its downward trend during the session.

Brent’s continued outperformance of WTI widened the spread between the two benchmarks to a new eight-month high of $18.77 on Wednesday.

“Brent is actually holding up remarkably well in the face of WTI weakness,” said Andy Lebow, vice president at Jefferies Bache in New York.

US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed US crude stocks rose by almost 3 million barrels to their highest level for this time of year since records began in 1982.

The report followed data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed stocks rose by 6.9 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected an increase of 600,000 barrels.

Brent crude fell 22 cents to $110.66 a barrel by 12:33 pm EST (1733 GMT), reversing course after earlier hitting $111.54.

Gold

Gold was flat on Wednesday, cutting initial gains as the dollar steadied after a series of US economic data supported expectations the Federal Reserve will soon scale back monetary stimulus.

With the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday in the United States approaching, market activity is expected to slow and not pick up until next week, traders said.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,242.66 an ounce by 1530 GMT after rising nearly 1 percent earlier in the day. It lost nearly 1 percent in the previous session after strong US housing data.

US gold futures rose 0.1 percent to $1,242.40 an ounce.

Technical analysts said that as long as gold remained below $1,300 it faced the risk of further declines.