(Updates with New York trading, dateline)
* EU Greece support bolsters euro
* US shares open firm, analysts cite Greece stability
* European, US government bond yields rise
By Jeremy Gaunt and Al Yoon
LONDON/NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Expectations that
European Union efforts will ease Greece's sovereign debt crisis
lifted the euro on Monday and cleared a path for gains in
global equities.
The European Union, European Central Bank and International
Monetary Fund last week moved to create a safety net for
Greece, seeking to persuade markets that the country's bonds
and those of other peripheral euro zone economies would not
default.
The euro, which has been battered by the crisis, rose about
a quarter percent against the dollar <EUR=> to $1.3446. It also
gained against the Swiss franc, Swedish crown, Japanese yen and
British pound.
"The EU agreement on Greece instilled some confidence, and
we are seeing a degree of a relief rally although a modest
one," said Lee Hardman, economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ.
"Greek yields are still elevated, and Greece is not out of
the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination."
Greece remained in focus with the sale of seven-year debt
seen as a barometer of demand for the country's debt.
The Greek bond was set to raise 5 billion euros, a source
at one of the banks charged with selling the debt said, but
could price at around 6 percent, more than twice the yield that
Germany pays on its debt. [] and []
Benchmark euro zone government bond prices declined, with
the yield on 10-year Bunds <EU10YT=RR> falling about 0.03
percentage point to 3.12 percent. Greece yields <GR10YT=RR>
rose 0.1 percentage point to 6.32 percent.
U.S. government debt prices declined slightly as
improvements in the U.S. economy and brightening prospects for
Greece lessened the appeal of Treasuries as a haven from risk.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 0.01 percentage point to
3.86 percent.
The removal of immediate worries about Greece allowed
global stock markets to focus elsewhere.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average <> rose
31.59 points, or 0.29 percent, to 10,881.95. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.42 points, or 0.38 percent, to
1,171.01 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <> increased 10.13
points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,405.26.
European shares turned negative as banks reversed gains and
oil majors slipped, offsetting strength in miners as metals
prices supported those shares.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares dropped 0.1 percent to 1.076.20. Gains in the U.S. and
among emerging markets lifted MSCI's all-country world index
<.MIWD00000PUS> 0.4 percent.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei average <> dipped 0.1 percent
on Monday, backing off an 18-month high hit last week.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped against a
basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S.
Dollar Index <.DXY> off 0.34 percent to 81.398. Against the
Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> edged up 0.11 percent to 92.57
yen.
In energy and commodities, U.S. light sweet crude oil
<CLc1> rose $2.05, or 2.56 percent, to $82.05 per barrel, and
spot gold <XAU=> rose $2.45, or 0.22 percent, to $1108.00.
(Additional reporting by Kirsten Donovan and Tamawa Desai
in London, and Steven C. Johnson and Emily Flitter in New York;
Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
(To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope)
