NEW YORK, Sept 20 – US stock markets opened in positive territory on Monday, carrying on momentum from recent gains and propelled by news that the US exited recession in June 2009.
"The positive tone has carried over into a new week with help from Europe’s major bourses, which have advanced solidly in recent trade," said analysts at Briefing.com
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 110.75 points (1.04 percent) to 10,718.58 by 1500 GMT, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite index gained 29.13 points (1.26 percent) to 2,344.74.
The broader S&P 500 index gained 11.96 points (1.06 percent) to reach 1,137.55 points.
The markets surged upward in late morning trade after the National Bureau of Economic Research said the US economy had exited recession in June 2009, ending the most sustained downturn since World War II.
It came on the back of a strong multi-session rally spurred by a brighter economic outlook.
Last week Wall Street flirted with its highest levels since May, boosted by new strong data easing concerns over the recovery.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.39 percent.
European stock markets rallied on Monday on the eve of a key US monetary policy meeting which is expected to provide clues over the outlook for the world\’s biggest economy.
Earlier bourses in London, Frankfurt and Paris were all up.
The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies gained 0.70 percent to 2,776.71 points.
Shares in hardware supplier Home Depot were up nearly two percent as strong earnings from a US homebuilder spurred hope that the housing market may have bottomed out.
Shares in American Express were up over one percent.
The bond market fell.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond was up to 2.741 percent from 2.714 percent on Friday while that on the 30-year bond was up to 3.900 percent from 3.891 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions.
