By DPA
New York : Buoyed by soaring commodities prices, Wall Street resumed its week’s climb Thursday after a slight retreat the day before.
Monsanto Co, the giant seed producer, advanced the most in a week as corn climbed to record prices, in part because of increasing demand for corn-based ethanol.
Merrill Lynch & Co, the third-largest securities company, reassured the financial sector with remarks by chief executive officer John Thain that the company did not need to raise capital.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20.20 points or 0.16 percent, to 12,626.03. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 1.78 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,369.31. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.90 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,363.30.
The US currency climbed against the euro to 63.76 euro cents from 63.73 euro cents Wednesday. The dollar retreated against the Japanese currency to 102.26 yen from 102.29 yen Wednesday.