Stocks and commodities are higher this morning as Spanish borrowing costs declined.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 advanced about one-third of one percent, following gains overseas. Shanghai led the strength in Asia, while France's CAC-40 and the German DAX stood out in Europe. Copper also reversed a drop yesterday by rebounding by more than 1 percent.
The yield on one-year Spanish debt fell to 3.07 percent from 3.92 percent a month ago. A similar decline also occurred on 18-month paper. That has kept sentiment positive before Luxembourg's finance minister visits Athens tomorrow.
Foreign exchange is showing a pattern of risk appetite, with the euro and British pound advancing against the U.S. dollar. The greenback is also lower against its Australian and Canadian counterparts, which is consistent with strong commodity prices. The yen is down as well, another sign that investors are less worried about economic crisis.
In addition to the strength in copper, oil is up by about 0.6 percent and natural gas advanced 1.2 percent. Silver rose almost 1 percent following a 2.6 percent gain yesterday. Most agricultural foodstuffs are strong as well. Wheat and corn are up by more than half a percent, while soybeans climbed 1.4 percent.
In company-specific news, retail Urban Outfitters rallied more than 15 percent after earnings and revenue beat expectations. Profit was especially strong on better product mix.
Apple also hit a new record high above $670 in the premarket following a report that its market value now exceeds that of Microsoft during the tech bubble of the late 1990s.
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