Global markets advanced overnight with green ink lighting up leaderboards on both sides of the pond.

Stocks rose as traders turned their focus back to corporate news from the US and hopes that the Federal Reserve will come up with a plan to jumpstart the economy.

In London the UK’s FTSE 100 added 95 points (+1.7%) to settle at 5586, whilst the French CAC (+1.7%) and German DAX (+1.8%) also enjoyed strong gains.

Stateside, the Dow Jones put on 96 points (+0.8%) to settle at 12837, whilst the S&P 500 (+1%) and NASDAQ (+1.2%) were stronger again.

American builders broke new ground on more single-family homes in May and requested more permits to build homes and apartments than they have in the past three and a half years.

The Commerce Department also said April was much better for housing starts than first thought. The government revised the figures up to 744,000, the fastest building pace since October 2008.

The Aussie dollar rallied and is now buying US$1.0175 – close to the highest level in six weeks.

Elsewhere, the euro rallied to almost the highest level in a month against the dollar after a European Union official said a politically acceptable path will be sought for renegotiating Greece’s bailout conditions.

Oil advanced on optimism that Europe’s debt crisis is easing and speculation that the Federal Reserve will announce measures to boost the US economy.

Oil for July delivery, which expires tomorrow, rose 76 cents to settle at $84.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil is down 15% this year.

Elsewhere, copper put on 1.3% whilst bullion slipped 0.5% to settle at US$1619.

In company news Grange Resources has announced that it wants to sell at least a 30% interest in $2.57 billion Southdown iron ore project in Western Australia.

Today’s session will bring us data in the form of the CB leading index (10am, AEST), the MI leading index (10:30am, AEST) and housing starts (11:30am, AEST).

Receive Daily FREE Trading Recommendations, click now.

   Written by: marketpulse   Other posts from: marketpulse