US stocks closed modestly higher as the economy showed signs of improvement, but uncertainty over possible military action against Syria continued to pressure markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 16.36 points, or 0.11 percent, at 14,840.87. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX was up 3.21 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,638.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 26.95 points, or 0.75 percent, at 3,620.30.
European stocks rose snapping a sharp two-day drop as Vodafone’s renewed talks with Verizon sent the UK firm’s stock to a 12-year high and sparked a brisk rally in the telecom sector.
Corporate results also returned to the forefront of investors’ minds, with Carrefour surging 5.2 percent after the world’s second biggest retailer posted a sharp improvement in earnings at its core French business.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,205.44 points, after losing 2 percent in two days.
UK’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7 percent at 6,474.71 points, with Vodafone shares’ 9 percent jump representing more than three quarters of the London benchmark’s rise.
Vodafone said it was in talks with Verizon to sell its 45 percent stake in their US joint venture Verizon Wireless, for what a Bloomberg report said would be about $130 billion.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average rose snapping a three-day losing streak led by gains in oil shares, while fears abated that US-led forces would soon launch a military strike on the Syrian government.
The bounce in stocks and emerging market currencies also calmed investors’ worries, traders said.
The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.9 percent to 13,459.71, while the broader Topix added 0.2 percent to 1,116.51.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald