Wall Street tops key 11,000 mark

Confidence among investors on Wall Street appears to be on the up

The Dow Jones US share index has closed above 11,000 points for the first time since the 11 September attacks in 2001.

Wall Street's premier share index, measuring 30 blue-chip stocks, closed up 52.6 points, or 0.48%, at 11,011.9 on Monday.

The much-awaited rise follows growing optimism among investors that the recent run of US interest rate rises may be coming to an end.

European stocks were expected to be lifted by Wall Street's overnight gain.

However, leading stocks in Japan gave a stifled response to the US gains. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down almost 2% at 16,124.35 points on Tuesday.

The last time the Dow Jones closed above 11,000 was 7 June 2001, when stocks on the index were falling.

"Whether it means we go higher, I don't know. But it certainly helps with average investor psychology," said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Boston-based Bingham Legg Advisers.

The 30 constituents of the Dow Jones index include such leading companies as Wal-Mart, Microsoft, IBM, McDonald's and Alcoa.

It does not, however, include all the US's largest firms.