US: Stocks push higher as dollar retreats

[NEW YORK] US stocks ended a two-day losing streak on Monday, rising ahead of the April jobs report and other key American data releases as the dollar pulled back further against the euro.

Analysts said sentiment remains strong in New York even after disappointing earnings from Apple and some other technology companies weighed on shares last week.

In the US, the broad-market S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent.

Bourses in Paris and Frankfurt also climbed, while Tokyo's Nikkei index tumbled 3.1 per cent as the strong yen continued to weigh on Japanese exporters.

Equity markets in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for a public holiday.

"The market is still in a pretty decent uptrend," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "The market continues to show resiliency." James attributed some of the US market's strength to the pullback in the dollar.

The euro crossed US$1.15, a key level "which opens up the possibility for a much higher increase" in the single currency, said analyst Sylvain Loganadin at FXCM brokerage.

Mr Loganadin said the weakness in the dollar followed the Institute for Supply Management's PMI index for manufacturing indicated growth slowing to 50.8 in April from 51.8 in March, near the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction Traders are betting Friday's US jobs report will disappoint markets, Loganadin said.

The market is now guessing that the US Federal Reserve "won't be tightening until September at the earliest" based on the run of mediocre American data of late, said Kathy Lien, analyst at BK Asset Management.

"This week's nonfarm payrolls report won't reignite demand for the greenback," she added.

In Europe, Germany's DAX 30 ended the day up 0.8 per cent, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 per cent.

However, Milan lost 1.0 per cent after an initial public offering by Banca Popolare di Vicenza failed to lure investors, hitting other banking shares, including sector leaders UniCredit, which fell by 6.9 per cent, and Intesa Sanpaolo, down 3.4 per cent.

The Nikkei suffered another steep fall in the wake of the Bank of Japan's surprise decision last week not to enact new stimulus action. The dollar got as low as 106.18 yen Monday, but stood at 106.42 near 2100 GMT.

AFP