US stocks rose after a reading on manufacturing activity hit a four-year high, more than offsetting other soft data and weak results from Wal-Mart.
Major indexes swung between slight gains and losses in early trading but were clearly in the black after noon. At its session high, the S&P 500 was less than 0.5 percent from its record close set last month at 1,848.38.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.47 points or 0.68 percent, to 16,149.03, the S&P 500 gained 10.47 points or 0.57 percent, to 1,839.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 19.705 points or 0.46 percent, to 4,257.659.
European markets trimmed losses in late trading on the US factory report. News that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week buoyed markets, as it pointed to steadily improving US labor market conditions despite two straight months of weak hiring.
MSCI’s all-country world equity index, a measure of equity markets in 45 countries, was down 0.23 percent. Its emerging markets index was down 0.92 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed down 0.10 percent to 1,337.34.
buenosairesherald.com