Markets Reassured by Chinese Inflation Report Wall Street rose modestly on Monday after Chinese inflation data eased worries about policy tightening there, while investors were cautious before speeches on the economy by top Federal Reserve officials. In afternoon trading, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.2 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq composite also gained 0.1 percent Elsewhere, upbeat Chinese trade data added to cautious optimism that the world's economy and markets could cope with a gradual withdrawal of Federal Reserve stimulus. The moves helped both the dollar and the euro extend their gains on the yen, with the euro zone's currency hitting a five-year high in what should give a boost to Japanese exports, profits and stocks. Investors are closely anticipating speeches from Fed members, looking for clues on whether the strong jobs report on Friday could be a deciding factor for the Fed to start trimming its stimulus when its Federal Open Market Committee holds its final meeting of 2013 next week. Among those scheduled to speak at different events on Monday: Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James B. Bullard; and Richard W. Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed. "A lot of Fed-speak today, and likely they are going to throw some cold water on all of this and talk about tapering, getting the market prepared for that inevitability," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, N.Y. "There is no question - at some point, there is tapering. Whether that is December or March or June, it's coming. All the Fed-speak helps the market get prepared for that. The S.&P. 500 recorded its best day in nearly a month on Friday after a robust jobs report that gave traders confidence that the economic recovery was gaining strength. All 10 S.&P. sector indexes ended solidly higher in the broad rally. The S.&P. 500 is up nearly 27 percent for the year and is on track for its biggest annual gain since 1998. But despite the strong rally, analysts say there is more room to the upside. "There has been a sharp and consistent increase in equity exchange-traded fund activity since mid-August," said Jonathan Golub, chief United States market strategist at RBC Capital Markets in New York. In fact, over 60 percent of year-to-date net inflows have occurred in the past three months. We view this as a sign of confidence in the markets among professional investors and traders. In company news, Sysco, the food distributor, jumped 9.9 percent and was ranked as the S.&P. 500"s best performer. The stock rallied after the company said it would buy rival US Foods for about $3.5 billion and assume about $4.7 billion in debt to create a company with about $65 billion in annual revenue. But McDonald's curbed the Dow's gain as it fell 1 percent after the fast-food restaurant chain reported weaker-than-expected global sales at established restaurants for November, hurt by a sharp drop in comparable-store sales in the United States. Abercrombie & Fitch lost 2.8 percent after the struggling teen apparel retailer said it would extend the contract of Michael S. Jeffries, its chief executive, by at least a year after it expires in February, days after a shareholder urged the company to replace him. In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed 2.3 percent higher and was fast approaching last week's peak of 15,794 points, leading a broad rise in Asian markets The upbeat sentiment had faded by the time it reached Europe, however. Paris's CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 eked out a rise of 0.1 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX closed 0.3 percent higher as robust trade data offset a surprise fall in factory output. United States Treasuries and European bonds remained resilient through the morning, with German bonds barely budging and 10-year United States yields steady at 2.84 percent, having briefly spike to 2.93 percent on Friday. The improvement in risk appetite knocked havens like the yen, lifting the dollar as high as 103.23 yen on Monday, and not far from last week's highs around 103.37, before it faded slightly to 103.19. The euro had shot up to 141.55 yen, territory not visited since October 2008, while also making ground on the dollar. It briefly touched $1.3748 early on Monday before edging back to $1.3723. Aiding sentiment in Asia was a set of robust trade numbers from the regional powerhouse China over the weekend, encouraging the central bank to set the renminbi at a fresh record high. China's exports came in well above forecast in November, rising 12.7 percent from the period a year earlier, while imports rose 5.3 percent. "The strength is likely supported by the recent improvement in global manufacturing activity, as evidenced by" the strong purchasing manager indexes in major advanced economies, analysts at Barclays wrote. That should be positive for many commodities, with China importing a record amount of iron ore in November, while oil imports rebounded. Prices for iron ore have been surprisingly firm around $139 a ton recently, good news for Australia as it is the country's single biggest export earner. United States crude oil futures were trading 5 cents higher, at $97.70 a barrel, having surged more than 5 percent last week. Brent edged around $109.83 a barrel. Gold rose $4.70, to $1,235.00 an ounce.