Wall Street hit new highs for the year over optimism of the corporate earnings. The rise was led by Caterpillar as a broker said the company was among the best-positioned companies to benefit from improving global growth and spending on construction, infrastructure and commodities.

Overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 points for the first time in a year, as the investors were encouraged by the better-than-expected earnings from Intel and JPMorgan Chase. The gains in stocks market were also helped by the positive September US retail sales data, which could be a further confirmation of a recovery.

Wall Street closed flat yesterday after the market rallied for two days. Traders turned cautious before the third quarter earnings kick off. Alcoa (NYSE:AA), the first company to unveil its earnings, posted a better-than-expected result with third quarter net income of US$77 million, after three consecutive quarters of losses.

Wall Street closed modestly higher on Tuesday after positive US economic data. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke also said the "recession is very likely over at this point". US retail sales were surprisingly strong in August largely due to government's "cash for clunkers" program, but analysts warned that it may not represent a sustainable recovery in consumer spending.

Wall Street closed in negative territory on Friday despite a survey showed that US consumer sentiment rose to its strongest level in three months. But the Dow still surged 164 points, or 1.74 per cent, with four days rally in the week.

Overnight US stocks rose for a fourth consecutive session led by industrial stocks. But market sentiment were dented after Federal Reserve report showed that consumer spending was still soft and retail sales were flat. The report also said labour market conditions remained weak across all districts.

US stocks rose overnight as commodities prices jumped. Kraft Foods' US$16.7 billion takeover bid for Cadbury boosted the market confidence on a rebound in merger and acquisition activities, despite Kraft's offer was rejected.

US markets were closed for the Labour Day public holiday, while Europe and Asia markets posted strong gains on Monday.

Wall Street was higher on Friday as a government report showed that the pace of job losses slowed in August. But the US stocks were still in negative territory for the week with the worst performance since early July.

Wall Street closed with an eighth consecutive gain on Thursday, as a series of financial firms rose and energy stocks rallied on the rebound of crude oil prices. The US government figure for GDP showed that the US economy shrank at a 1 per cent annual pace in the second quarter, better than analysts' forecast of 1.5 per cent decline.