March 17, 2010 6:44 PM EDT
The basic materials and financial sectors on Wednesday lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new 2010 intraday high of 10,768.
The U.S. stock market rose on the easy monetary policy of Japan and the U.S. and a lower than expected U.S. Producer Price Index.
The Dow is up 79.28 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 10,765.26 at 2:20 pm EST. The S&P 500 Index is up 10.10 points, or 0.87 percent, to trade at 1,169.60.
Asian markets mostly closed higher. The Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 1.72 percent. Nikkei, boosted by the Bank of Japan's decision to expand credit, closed up 1.17 percent.
Korea's KOSPI Composite Index was up 2.11 percent, rising on the successful trading debut of Korea Life.
European markets also closed modestly up, with the U.K. FTSE 100 climbing 0.43 percent.
The leading sectors of the U.S. stock market are basic materials, energy, and financial.
Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE), up 6.69 percent, and Alcoa (NYSE:AA), up 7.03 percent, are among the top gainers of the S&P 500.
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Massey Energy announced Tuesday after the market closed that it will acquire a coal producer for $960 million.
Among the top performers of the Dow are Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), up 1.70 percent, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), up 1.76 percent, and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), up 1.41 percent.
At 8:30 a.m. EST, the Department of Labor released a report showing that prices for wholesale goods in the U.S. declined 0.6 percent in February, a sharper drop than the expected 0.2 percent decline, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The report suggests that inflationary pressures are currently mild in the U.S.
The Federal Reserve agreed with this assumption as it elected to keep interest rates unchanged on Tuesday. It also stated its expectation of keep them it low "for an extended period."
The Bank of Japan announced on Wednesday that it too will keep interest rates unchanged. It also expanded its bank lending program to $220 billion, providing further liquidity to the Japanese financial system.
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