* Stocks rally on JPMorgan earnings, economic data
* Brent crude hits $99 a barrel before February expiry
* Euro has best week since mid-2009, more gains expected
* Treasuries retreat as equity appeal draws investors
(Adds byline, close of U.S. markets)
By Herbert Lash and Al Yoon
NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - World stocks edged up on
Friday, with JP Morgan's strong earnings pushing Wall Street
higher, but China's latest move to tighten credit drove gold
to a one-week low, although oil prices rose.
A rise in Brent crude to above $99 a barrel helped lift
U.S. oil prices despite the increase in reserve requirements
at Chinese banks. For details see:
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Wall Street rallied, with the benchmark S&P 500 Index
posting its seventh straight week of gains after JPMorgan
Chase & Co <JPM.N> reported a larger-than-expected 47 percent
increase in quarterly earnings.
Although sales at U.S. retailers rose slightly less than
expected in December, underlying inflation remained tame and
investors were cheered by other data that suggested the
recovery was modestly gathering strength. []
Retail sales for 2010 reversed two years of contraction
with the biggest increase in more than a decade, while the
Federal Reserve reported a surprisingly large 0.8 percent gain
in output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities in December,
helped by cold weather.
The S&P Midcap 400 index <.MID>, which includes companies
with market caps ranging from $750 million to $3.3 billion,
surged to end the session at 931.07, an all-time closing
high.
"On balance, with supporting prices and in spite of mixed
economic data, there is expectation of a strong earnings
season," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management
in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 55.48 points,
or 0.47 percent, to close at 11,787.38. The Standard & Poor's
500 <.SPX> gained 9.48 points, or 0.74 percent, to finish at
1,293.24. The Nasdaq Composite <> climbed 20.01 points,
or 0.73 percent, to end at 2,755.30.
For the week, the Dow rose 1 percent, the S&P 500 added
1.7 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.9 percent.
U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday for Martin
Luther King Jr. Day.
The fresh tightening in Chinese monetary policy pushed
European shares lower, although more positive U.S. economic
and earnings data helped pare losses by the close.
[]
Brent crude oil rose to a 27-month peak above $99 a
barrel, as traders shrugged off China's move to restrict
lending.
In London, ICE Brent crude for February delivery <LCOc1>
settled up 62 cents, or 0.63 percent, at $98.68 a barrel,
having traded as high as $99.20, the highest since October
2008. The February contract expired at the end of Friday's
trading.
U.S. crude oil for February delivery <CLc1> added 14
cents, or 0.15 percent, to settle at $91.54 a barrel.
But gold dropped 1 percent to post its biggest two-week
loss in nearly a year after China's move to rein in inflation
and as safe-haven demand faded on a better economic outlook.
[]
U.S. gold futures for February delivery <GCG1> lost $26.50
to settle at $1,360.50 an ounce. Spot gold <XAU=> fell as low
intraday as $1,354.99 an ounce, a one-week low.
U.S. Treasuries slipped as the rise in equity markets
boosted risk tolerance and dampened the appeal of safe-haven
U.S. government debt. []
Retail sales were "fairly strong" and thus mildly negative
for safe-haven assets like Treasuries, said Ray Humphries,
portfolio manager of The Hartford Inf lation Plus Fund
<HIPAX.O> at Hartford Investment Management Co., which has
$161.7 billion in assets under management.
The euro headed for its best week in more than 1-1/2 years
and could extend gains next week after successful securities
auctions by indebted euro-zone members calmed fears of a
credit crisis in the region.
The euro <EUR=> was last at $1.3376, up 3.8 percent this
week and edging closer to key resistance at $1.35. Analysts
said the recovery could continue in the near term, although
gains above $1.35 may be difficult, given nervousness over the
large debt supply from weaker euro-zone economies in 2011.
"We're at a bit of a pivot point, but the same momentum
continues," said Fabian Eliasson, vice president of currency
sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.
The dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies,
with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.16 percent at
79.064.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Robert Gibbons, Nick Olivari,
Ellen Freilich and Frank Tang; Writing by Herbert Lash;
Editing by Jan Paschal)
