[NEW YORK] US stocks advanced on Monday to push the Nasdaq above the 5,000 mark for the first time in fifteen years, as a round of mixed data pointed to a slowly accelerating economy.

The Nasdaq hit a high of 5,000.33 before retreating, the first time above that level since March 27, 2000, at the height of the dot.com bubble. " Five thousand on the Nasdaq, it' s been a long time coming," said Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at Clearpool Group in New York. " Now that data point, or psychological barrier, has been breached, investors are going to look at the likelihood we will continue to see the move higher in the Nasdaq and the degree to which the Nasdaq will outperform the broader market." US consumer spending fell for a second month in January, with lower gasoline prices dampening inflation pressure while personal income fell just short of expectations, showing a rise of 0.3 per cent.

Separate gauges of manufacturing were conflicting, as financial data firm Markit' s final US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index hit a four-month high while a reading from the Institute for Supply Management fell to its lowest in 13 months.

Construction spending also softened, falling at a 1.1 per cent annual rate, below expectations calling for a 0.3 per cent increase in January.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 110.97 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 18,243.67, the S& P 500 gained 7.1 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 2,111.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added 29.90 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 4,993.43.

Chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV has agreed to buy smaller peer Freescale Semiconductor and merge operations in a deal valuing the combined company at over US$40 billion. NXP shares jumped 16.5 per cent to US$98.90 while Freescale advanced 10.9 per cent to US$40.05.

Lumber Liquidators plunged 23.5 per cent to US$39.67 after a report by television news program " 60 Minutes" said the retailer of hardwood flooring in North America sold flooring with higher levels of formaldehyde than permitted under California' s health and safety standards.

Boston Scientific said it will acquire Endo International' s American Medical Systems urology portfolio for up to US$1.65 billion. Boston Scientific rose 1.6 per cent while Endo gained 2.2 per cent to US$87.50.

Cardinal Health said it would buy Johnson & Johnson' s Cordis vascular technology unit for US$1.9 billion and the acquisition would boost 2017 earnings by 20 US cents per share. Cardinal Health gained 1.4 per cent to US$89.26 and JNJ added 0.6 per cent to US$103.15.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,747 to 1,198, for a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq, 1,750 issues rose and 847 fell, for a 2.07-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S& P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows the Nasdaq Composite recorded 109 new highs and 18 new lows.

 

COMMODITIES firm Noble Group' s shares plunged 8 per cent last Friday after the company reported a shock US$240 million loss for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014, largely due to an unexpected US$438 million write-off.

The commodities trader also faced further criticism on its accounting practices from Iceberg Research last week.

PROPERTY firms could react to the reduction of development charge (DC) rates - payable for enhancing the use of some sites or to build bigger projects on them - by 3.2 per cent on average for non-landed residential use for the period March 1 to Aug 31 this year.

This is the second consecutive drop and double the 1.6 per cent decline in the previous half-yearly revision, which took effect on Sept 1 last year.

The latest cut comes amid continued weakness in condominium and apartment prices, said market watchers.

THE Singapore Exchange (SGX) will have a new chief regulatory officer in Tan Boon Gin from June 15.

Mr Tan, who is currently director of the Commercial Affairs Department, was named to the job following the departure of Richard Teng on Feb 28.

Between March 1 and June 14, the position will be held by Yeo Lian Sim, special adviser to SGX and previously the chief risk and regulatory officer.

 

[SYDNEY] Asian stocks gained after Chinese policy makers increased efforts to spur growth in Asia' s largest economy.

Almost two shares rose for each that fell, as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 per cent to 146.44 as of 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo. The measure increased 4.2 per cent in February, its largest monthly advance since September 2013, as Greece brokered a deal with creditors to extend bailout funding and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen damped concerns of an imminent rate increase.

The People' s Bank of China lowered the one-year deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 per cent and the one-year lending rate to 5.35 per cent, effective March 1, the Beijing-based central bank said on its website. China joins a wave of global easing with its second rate cut in three months, as central banks from Singapore to the euro region ramp up monetary policy amid concerns over growth and lackluster inflation.

" China is clearly slowing down, you don' t cut rates twice in three months if things are going stunningly well," Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners, which manages about US$7.2 billion, said by phone from Wellington. " It' s clear markets are being driven by other factors besides earnings, and key is the ongoing loose central- bank policy around the world." Reaction in China' s stock market, which received a fillip from the PBOC' s first interest-rate cut in two years in November, may be muted this time because Saturday' s move was largely priced in, said Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. Markets in China and Hong Kong are yet to open.