Markets in Asia and Europe were up after strong housing data was released in the US, and American markets advanced over 2%.
The Nikkei 224 was up 1.41% to 8,454. The Hang Seng was higher by 1.86% to 18,416.
At the open in Europe, the FTSE 100 rose .72% to 5,458. The DAX was up .95% to 9,902
The improvements followed a day in which the DJIA moved up by 2.87% to 12,104. American markets are now up by about 4% on the year.
Much of the market improvement was due to a sharp increase in housing starts. But, economists were quick to point out that multi-family homes accounted for much of this. They are consider a less stable indicator the single family homes.
Data has also shown the Christmas shopping has stayed strong at both the bricks and mortar and e-commerce levels. This has caused economists to believe that Q4 GDP could be as high as 3%.
The only news that has put a recent damper on the optimism is the ongoing trouble in Europe’s economies.
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