International equity markets rallied overnight amid positive data from the US, better-than-expected earnings results in Europe, and Italy's successful sale of government debt.

In Europe, Italy's bond yields climbed to a four-year high after it successfully sold 6.5 billion euros worth of bonds. Moreover, the European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co reported earnings results that beat analyst expectations.

In the US, orders for durable goods excluding transportation beat analyst estimates after it increased by 1.9% in January whilst contracts to purchase previously owned homes climbed by 4.5%, higher than the median forecast of 1.9%.

In Europe, the UK's FTSE added a further 55 points (+0.9%) to settle at 6326 whilst Germany's DAX increased 79 points (+1%) to settle at 7676. France's CAC added 69 points (+1.9%) to settle at 3691.

In the US, the Dow Jones increased 175 points (+1.3%) to settle at 14075 whilst the S&P climbed 19 points (+1.3%) to settle at 1516. The Nasdaq rose 33 points (+1%) to settle at 3163.

In the commodity space, crude oil for April delivery climbed $0.13 to settle at $92.76 per barrel after it was reported that crude production in the US declined by 22,000 barrels per day to 7.1 million in the past week.

Moreover, crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma fell by 75,000 barrels to 50.6 million barrels in last week. Gold futures for April delivery slumped $19.80 (-1.2%) to settle at $1,595.70 per ounce due to market optimism which reduced demand for the asset's safety.

In the currency space, the Japanese yen finished lower after it was reported that Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo Abe will submit his choice for the next BoJ governor tomorrow. The euro finished higher against the US dollar after Italy's bond yields rose to 4.83%, lower than the expected increase of more than 5%.

In company news, Woolworths has reported a 19% increase in 1H13 net profit to $1.2 billion and upgraded its full year underlying earnings guidance.

Today will see the release of the release of the private capital expenditure data (11:30am, AEDT), the private sector credit data (11:30am, AEDT), and the HIA new home sales data (tentative).

Morning Market Update: Bulls Bouncing Back is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog