World stock index rises on euro zone data

World stocks climbed for an eighth straight session on Friday on signs of a gradual improvement in euro zone growth and the euro rose to its highest level in almost three weeks, while gold climbed above $1,300 an ounce.

On Wall Street, stock gains put the S&P 500 index on track for its first two-week winning streak of the year and the Nasdaq on track for a seventh session of gains, despite more weak data on the US economy. Investors again appeared to blame the data on bad weather.

Reuters reported that US factory production fell 0.8 per cent in January, the biggest drop in more than four-and-a-half years. The report from the Federal Reserve follows an unexpectedly weak US retail sales report Thursday that stock investors also discounted because of the weather.

“The fact the market has not been adversely affected by the weaker numbers, any of the recent numbers that have fallen short, (means) the smart market money believes it is in fact the weather, and the economy has not fallen off the tracks here,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Investors also gave a cautious thumbs up to political changes in Italy.

Italy’s center-left leader, Matteo Renzi, forced out Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Thursday after Letta failed to pass major reforms. The new government will be Italy’s third in a year, but the hope is that Renzi can revive efforts to streamline the euro zone’s third-largest economy.