US stocks rallied on Tuesday as investors found optimistic signs in manufacturing and housing sales data. Dow Jones Industrial Average refreshed the year's high after breaking 10,500 points.

At Tuesday's close, the Dow rose 126.74, or 1.23 percent, to 10,471.58, the highest since October last year. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 13.23, or 1.21 percent, to 1,108.86 and the Nasdaq gained 31.21, or 1.46 percent to 2,175.81.

Investors embraced a bunch of mixed economic reports on Tuesday, and the market reacted quite positively. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index fell to 53.6 in November from 55.7 in October, surprising economists who had expected a smaller decrease to 55.

However, any reading over 50 implies expansion in the sector. What's more, new orders rose and ISM's measure of employment grew for the second straight month after sliding for more than a year.

The National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday that its pending home sales index unexpectedly rose 3.7 percent in October. It is the ninth consecutive monthly increase and it now stands at the highest level since March 2006. Analysts were predicting a one-percent drop after previous month's six-percent rise.

The US Commerce Department said construction spending in October was unchanged after falling 1.6 percent in September. It is better than the 0.5-percent decrease anticipated by economists.

Home builders climbed on the above reports. Beazer Homes USA Inc. advanced 16 cents, or 3.7 percent, to US$4.46. Pulte Homes Inc. rose 17 cents, or 1.9 percent, to US$9.31.

Concerns about Dubai's debt problems continued to ease on Tuesday. Dubai World said it is in talks to restructure US$26 billion of debt, which helped to play down the worries that it might go into default and wipe out the investment of its creditors.

The news also helped to lift equity markets worldwide. London's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 all closed with gains of more than 2 percent. Asian markets rallied as well with Japan's Nikkei ending 2.4 percent higher.

Dollar fell against euro on Tuesday which has helped to send commodity prices soaring.

COMEX gold for December delivery rallied US$18 to settle at US$1,199.10 an ounce, after rising to as high as 1,202.70 dollars. It's the first time the precious metal has ever traded at this level.

Crude oil gained US$1.09 to settle at US$78.37 a barrel in New York trading.

Energy and basic material sectors were boosted. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. rose 28 cents, or 2.2 percent, to US$12.80. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. rose US$1.11, or 1.3 percent, to US$83.91. Schlumberger Ltd., which provides services to oil companies, rose 76 cents, or 1.2 percent, to US$64.65.

In company news, General Electric has reportedly reached a deal to buy Vivendi SA's 20-percent stake in NBC Universal for about US$5.8 billion. GE is seeking partnership with cable company Comcast Corporation to create one of the largest US media companies and the deal will move GE closer to its goal.

GE shares rose nearly one percent and Comcast shares gained more than two percent on Tuesday.

AIG shares rebounded and put on an 8.6-percent rise on Tuesday after the company said it is wiping out US$25 billion of its government debt. It will sell stakes in two of its life insurance subsidiaries to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. AIG shares plunged nearly 15 percent after an analyst raised concerns about a possible deficiency in the company's non-life insurance reserves.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2009)