 "A specialist trader works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York")
Shares on major equity markets hit their highest in nearly two months on Wednesday and US government bond yields touched their highest in almost four weeks as strong US economic data tempered fears of a global economic slowdown. Crude oil futures turned higher in mid-morning trading in New York despite a huge build-up in stockpiles.
European stocks rose, putting them on track for their longest winning streak in five months. Wall Street opened lower, but was little changed with the S&P 500 not far from an eight-week high hit Tuesday.
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The latest piece of better-than-expected data came from US private sector employers, who added 214,000 jobs in February, beating economists' expectations. That added to strong manufacturing and construction spending data earlier this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.06 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 16,859.02, the S&P 500 lost 0.73 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,977.62 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.39 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 4,679.21. The FTSEuroFirst index was up 0.6 per cent, on track for its fifth straight day of gains and at a one-month high. MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stock markets also rose to hit its highest level in close to two months. Asian stocks rose overnight to a two-month high with Japan's and China's main indexes both up more than four per cent.
DATA BOOSTER
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US factory activity rose more than expected last month
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US construction spending rose to the highest level since October 2007
- Solid GDP data from Australia and Canada helped
