20 Aug 2012

Offshore markets up

8:52 am on 20 August 2012

Wall Street rose on Friday after Apple shares hit all time highs amid rising industrial production figures and stronger consumer confidence, while Germany backed the European Central Bank's bond buying plans for stricken countries.

The Dow Jones Index rose 25 points, or 0.2%, to close at 13,275. The Nasdaq Composite was up 14 points, or 0.5%, to 3077.

In Europe: the FTSE 100 index in London rose 0.3%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%.

The Nikkei index in Tokyo was up 70 points to 9163.

The Australian 200 Index was up 40 points, or 0.9%, to 4370 and the NZX 50 rose 23 points, or 0.6%, to close at 3640.

At 8.10am on Monday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 80.75 US cents, 77.45 Australian cents, 51.39 pence, 64.18 yen and 0.6534 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 72.90.

Brent crude oil was trading at $US115.95 per barrel and gold was at $US1615.54 per ounce.