By Greg Peel

The Dow closed up 83 points or 0.7% while the S&P gained 0.9% to 1324 and the Nasdaq added 1.1%.

We'll just get Greece out of the way first. As each day passes resolution is said to be getting closer although I'm reminded of that old horror movie chestnut when you're running towards a door at the end of a corridor but the door just seems to keep getting further away. Next week is currently the call, at least until till we get to next week at which time the call will probably be next week.

The goods news in the meantime is that yields on Spanish and Italian sovereign bonds have been retreating since Christmas. Last night the Spanish ten-year traded at 4.6%, down from 6% late last year, and the Italian equivalent traded at 5.6%, down from 7% last year. Don't fight the ECB.

But what really had Wall Street on a tear last night was the global manufacturing data. I make note of the global round of manufacturing purchasing managers' indices at the beginning of each month and I have to say I can't remember the last time all the little ducks lined up. In January, all of the PMIs for Australia, China, the eurozone, UK and US showed increased rates of growth of manufacturing activity. Yes ? even Australia. And what's more, they're all expansion numbers (except for HSBC's Chinese number but we'll get to that).

Australia's PMI rose to 51.6 in January from 50.2 in December. China's official number was 50.5 (50.3), the eurozone 51.2 (50.2), the UK 52.1 (49.7) and the US 54.1 (53.1). The independent Chinese number calculated by HSBC, which is weighted more towards small business than state-owned enterprises, rose to 48.8 from 48.7, suggesting contraction at a lesser rate.

Just when you think everything might be tipping over again we get numbers like this. Expansion is not exactly screaming along ? most numbers are just over the 50 mark ? but in this climate we'll take it. The HSBC number throws a slight cloud over China, but bear in mind China is the only region in the group coming out of a long period of monetary policy tightening. All the others are enjoying monetary policy easing.

Wall Street was also sufficiently happy with the ADP private sector employment report for January which showed 170,000 new jobs added. That's down from 292,000 in December but on the money of expectation, and the number has been positive now for 24 consecutive months. The official number, which includes the public sector, is out on Friday night.

December construction spending in the US was another pleasing result, showing a 1.5% rise compared to 0.4% in November. Housing was a welcome contributor to the good result along with government spending, and on an annual, seasonally adjusted basis, it's the best result for 20 months. Vehicle sales also got off to a flying start in January with most badges enjoying strong sales growth. Chrysler, which was taken out of the US government's hands by Fiat post-GFC, was the winner with a 44% year-on-year increase while GM, which is still basically state-owned, was the loser with a 7% decline.

All the good news was good news for US banks, which led the charge in rising strongly last night along with most of the tech sector. The exception was Amazon, which fell 8% after its big revenue miss, while everyone else is getting all barred up over the any-minute-now Facebook IPO.

It was "risk on" across other markets as well, best demonstrated by the global risk indicator. The Aussie rose 0.8% to US$1.0704 as the US dollar index fell 0.5%. Gold managed a US$5.90 rise to US$1744.90/oz while base metals were all up a percent. Yet while past sessions on Wall Street have featured sharp drops followed by grafting gains, last night the Dow was up 150 points before profit-taking from the unfaithful knocked the index down on the death. The last time the Dow moved by triple digits was January 3. But we should recall that prior to 2007, 80 points on the Dow was considered a big move.

Despite the first of the month effect ? which often leads to new buying ? volumes were once again minimal.

Oh and I said I'd only mention oil if it actually moved. Last night the weekly US inventories showed a big jump so West Texas fell US$1.03 to US$97.45/bbl but Brent rose US72c to US$11130/bbl in line with the general mood.

The SPI Overnight rose 57 points or 1.3% to reverse yesterday's soggy session and catch up.

We'll get a better idea of how our trade with China is going today when the Australian December trade balance is released. Wesfarmers ((WES)) will release its retail sales numbers for the December quarter.

Rudi will be on Sky Business today at 12 noon.

All