Wall Street gains despite IBM hit, builds on Nikkei surge

Nikkei's 4% gain on Monday marked its biggest daily rise since June 2013

A measure of global equity markets rose on Monday after strong US corporate results lifted Wall Street, despite a quarterly earnings miss from IBM, building on positive sentiment that grew out of a surge in Japanese shares.

On Wall Street, IBM shares closed down 7.1% at $169.10. While IBM's miss limited the Dow's gains, the index turned modestly higher before the end of the US session, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced.

"The fact that the Dow has been able to get positive with IBM's 13-point decline is pretty significant. It shows the overall strength in the market," said Philip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New York. "We're continuing to rebound off of oversold levels," he said.

US corporate earnings season will ramp up this week, with nearly 130 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. Apple Inc posted a better-than-expected 12% jump in revenue after Monday's close . Shares in Apple were roughly flat at about $100 in after-hours trade.

European stocks closed lower, meanwhile, after a profit warning from German business software maker SAP hit technology shares.

"It's all about growth at the moment. Cyclicals have been underperforming in recent months ... (and) with respect to SAP, it's a result of the business investment climate," said Mike Ingram, market strategist at BGC Partners.

Japan's Nikkei average surged 4%, underpinned by news that Japan's $1.2 trillion public pension would likely more than double its allocation to domestic stocks to about 25%. The Nikkei's gain on Monday marked its biggest daily rise since June 2013.

MSCI's all-country world index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, was last up 0.74% to 399.94, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.58% at 1,272.72.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.12%, at 16,399.67, while the S&P 500 ended up 0.91%, at 1,904.01. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 1.35%, at 4,316.07.

Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes were last up just 1/32 in price to yield 2.19%. The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, fell 0.13%, to 85.001.

Brent crude resumed its decline on nagging concerns about abundant supply and sluggish demand and fell as low as $84.41. It was last down $0.85, or 0.99%, at $85.31 a barrel. US crude settled down 4 cents at $82.71 a barrel.