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The Dow closed at 17-month highs Wednesday following the decisions by the US and Japanese central banks to keep interest rates unchanged and the US senate passing a US$17.6 billion jobs bill. Optimism of an economic recovery saw commodity stocks rally.

The Dow and S&P 500 have risen 13 of the last 14 sessions, while the Nasdaq has closed higher in 12 of the last 14 sessions.

In economic news, the Producer Price Index (PPI) weakened 0.6% in February. Forecasts were for a 0.2% decline after gaining 1.4% the previous month.

The Dow Jones gained 47.69 points, or 0.45%, to 1,0733.67, the S&P's 500 added 6.75 points, or 0.58%, to 1,166.21 and the NASDAQ rose 11.08 points, or 0.47%, to 2,389.09.

Bank of America led the financials higher with a 1.4% gain.

JPMorgan put on 1.3%, while insurer AIG rallied 2.4%.

Aluminium producer Alcoa climbed 4.8%.

Tech majors closed either side of the gain line. Oracle and Microsoft advanced 1% and 0.9%, while IBM shed 0.7%.

Energy stocks tracked the price of crude higher as it reached two-month highs. Exxon Mobil and Chevron added 1.2% and 0.9%

NYMEX light crude oil for April delivery rose US$1.23 to settle at US$82.93 a barrel.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose US$1.70 to settle at US$1,124.20 per ounce.

European Markets

European markets also reached 17-month highs after the US Fed’s pledge to leave borrowing rates at record lows for some time yet. Miners made ground due to a rise in metals prices.

The benchmark UK FTSE 100 rose 24.20, or 0.43% to 5,644.63. The French CAC40 added 18.94, or 0.48% to 3,957.89, while the German DAX gained 53.29, or 0.89% to 6,024.28.

Anglo American and Rio Tinto added 1.8% each, while the world’s largest miner BHP Billiton gained 1.6%. 

UK banks Standard Chartered and HSBC gained 1.9% and 1.4%.

In France Societe Generale rallied 2.2%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank added 1.5%. 

Swiss bank EFG International surged 12% after beating full-year earnings estimates.

Operator of Britain’s longest rail route, Arriva, spiked 17% after receiving a takeover offer.

Inditex put on 3.5% after international sales saw the clothing retailer post a better than expected 18% increase in fourth-quarter net income.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei reached an eight-week high after the Bank of Japan doubled the size of a lending operation it put in place in December.

The Nikkei 225 gained 125.27, or 1.17% to 10,846.98.

Nissan advanced 2.5% on speculation that along with Renault it will form an equity alliance with Daimler.

Honda edged 0.2% higher as it recalled over 400,000 vehicles due to a fault in a brake-system.

Chip-related stocks moved higher on speculation Intel will release positive guidance for the current quarter in the US. Tokyo Electron and Advantest added 1.4% each.

Elpida Memory rose 1.6% on reports it will return to annual profit at the end of the month. 

Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co surged 5.8% after upgrading its full year operating profit forecast.

Japan’s largest commodities trader Mitsubishi Corp put on 1.3% on rising commodity prices.

Energy stocks Nippon Oil Corp. and Inpex Corp. jumped 3.8% and 2.2%.

Nippon Mining Holdings gained 3.7%.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng bounced back declines in the three previous sessions to post strong gains and take the Hang Seng to two-month highs. Banks and property stocks led the rally.

The Hang Seng rallied 361.56, or 1.72% to 21,384.49.

ICBC, one of the world’s biggest lenders, gained 1.4%, while Bank of China rallied 2.1%.

HSBC put on 1.8%.

Property developers Hang Lung and Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 3.2% and 4.1% respectively.

Another developer, Poly, spiked 4.5% after saying it would pay $627 million for Chinese focused developer Rapid Bloom.

Meanwhile Macau gambling company, SJM Holdings, surged 6.3% on the prospect of greater protectionism for its stake on the island.

Hong Kong & China Gas put on 3.8% after posting a 20% hike in profits, while Jiangxi Copper rallied 2.9%.

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