More indications that the U.S. economic recovery is gaining steam cheered finanical markets around the world Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 84 points to break a four-day losing streak.
Among factors brightening investors' moods:
* U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said its manufacturing index has expanded for 29 straight months.
* Builders ended a poor year for construction by spending more on homes and projects for the fifth straight month.
December offers more evidence of a slow but steady turnaround in the industry. Housing, nonresidential construction and government projects all showed gains.
A 1.5 percent gain pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $816.4 billion, the highest level in 20 months.
* Chrysler's January U.S. sales jumped 44 percent over a year ago and Ford's rose 7 percent, kicking off what is expected to be the best year for auto sales since the recession. General Motors was the only automaker to report a decrease, partly because last January's sales were built on discounts.
Analysts expect January sales to be up 7 percent over last year and 11 percent over last month.
Chrysler, now privately held and majority owned by Italy's Fiat , earned $183 million last year after losing $652 million in 2010.
Subject
CONSTRUCTION (91%); ECONOMIC NEWS (90%); STOCK INDEXES (90%); FACTORY ORDERS (90%); ECONOMIC RECOVERY (90%); MANUFACTURING OUTPUT (90%); AUTOMOTIVE SALES (90%); CONSTRUCTION SPENDING (90%); NEW ORDERS (90%); ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (90%); RECESSION (78%); MANUFACTURING SECTOR PERFORMANCE (77%); AUTOMOTIVE MFG (77%); NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION (77%); AUTOMOBILE MFG (77%); AUTOMAKERS (68%)
Industry
NAICS336112 LIGHT TRUCK & UTILITY VEHICLE MANUFACTURING (53%); NAICS336111 AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURING (53%)
Ticker
GM (NYSE) (53%)
Geographic
UNITED STATES (92%); ITALY (50%)
