Market Watch 10/06/2009

Today is Tueaday. The weather is sunny in here.

Stocks rose on Tuesday amid signs the global economy was recovering and optimism that corporate earnings reports will beat expections.

Australia became the first G20 country to raise interest rates since the onset of the financial crisis, saying that the worst danger for the economy had passed, which underscored for many that the global economy was on the mend.

Expectations of a rebound in revenue and earnings for the recently ended third quarter fed the optimism. Quarterly earnings are due to kick off late Wednesday, with results from aluminum company Alcoa Inc . Its shares were up 3.5 percent to $13.89.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 131.50 points, or 1.37 percent, at 9,731.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 14.26 points, or 1.37 percent, at 1,054.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 35.42 points, or 1.71 percent, at 2,103.57.

Benchmark U.S. gold futures scaled an all-time high at $1,045 an ounce on Tuesday, adding to gains in commodity-related shares.

On Nasdaq, Microsoft Corp increased 1.9 percent to $25.11 after introducing new software for mobile phones to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone. Apple shares rose 2.1 percent at $190.01.

Volume was below average on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.23 billion shares changing hands, under last year's estimated daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.42 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 2.28 billion.