* Greece concern eases after EU move, bond sale
* Stocks rise, in U.S. boosted by energy shares
* Euro bolstered by Greece debt optimism
(Updates New York midday trading)
By Al Yoon
NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - European Union measures
aimed at easing Greece's sovereign debt crisis lifted the euro
on Monday, clearing a path for gains in global equities.
Expectations that a Friday report will show U.S. businesses
hired for the first month since November also buoyed stocks.
Strength in world equities came as the European Union,
European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund last week
moved to create a safety net for debt-challenged 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 third of a percent against the dollar <EUR=> to $1.3453. It
also gained against the Swiss franc, Swedish crown, Japanese
yen and British pound.
Greece tapped the capital markets for the first time since
euro zone leaders and the International Monetary Fund agreed to
fiscal support. For details, see: [].
"Greece's move is definitely lifting some concerns about
the financial condition of the region, but we are not out of
the woods yet, and the market can change its direction any
time," said Jon Canally, economist at LPL Financial in Boston.
The Greek seven-year bond raised 5 billion euros at a 5.9
percent yield, nearly twice the rate that Germany pays on its
debt. While completed, it drew significantly less demand than
two previous 10-year Greek bonds due to the shorter maturity,
thin markets ahead of the Easter holiday and doubts that yields
will decline anytime soon.
Benchmark euro zone government debt firmed, with the yield
on 10-year Bunds <EU10YT=RR> falling 0.01 percentage point to
3.14 percent. Greece 10-year yields <GR10YT=RR> rose 0.05
percentage point to 6.27 percent, but came off their highs
after the new seven-year issue sold.
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 0.02 percentage point to
3.87 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
54.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 10,904.47. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 6.76 points, or 0.58 percent, to
1,173.35 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <> increased 13.01
points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,408.14.
Stocks firmed as data showed U.S. consumer spending rose in
February for a fifth straight month, though stagnant incomes
pushed savings to their lowest level since October 2008. Many
investors also peered ahead to the U.S. March employment report
on Friday, in which economists forecast businesses added some
190,000 jobs in the month.
The jobs data, to be released when U.S. equity markets are
shuttered for the Good Friday holiday, if as expected would
mark the best month of job creation in two years.
Major energy companies shares jumped with the price of oil
and investors snapped up top performers ahead of the first
quarter's end.
The S&P energy index <.GSPE> gained 1.8 percent as oil
futures surged 3 percent to $82.38 a barrel, while materials
shares also rose. U.S. Steel Corp <X.N> rose 1.8 percent to
$65.10.
A softer U.S. dollar helped commodities, including copper,
which rose more than 3 percent to its highest in nearly three
months <CMCU3>.
European shares ended higher, with miners supported by
strong metals prices offsetting weaker banks, while Vodafone
<VOD.L> rose on reports of talks with U.S. partner Verizon over
dividend payments.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed up 0.16 percent at 1,079.24 points.
"We're now getting to the point where people are saying we
have had some terrific gains and maybe we have come a little
bit too far too soon and we could see some consolidation," said
Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
Gains in the U.S. and among emerging markets lifted MSCI's
all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> 0.6 percent, closing in
on its highest level since mid-January. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei
average <> dipped 0.1 percent on Monday, backing off an
18-month high hit last week.
In currencies, 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 81.395. Against the Japanese yen,
the dollar <JPY=> edged up 0.22 percent to 92.67 yen.
In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude
oil <CLc1> rose $2.36, or 2.95 percent, to $82.36 per barrel,
and gold <XAU=> rose $4.80, or 0.43 percent, to $1110.40.
(Additional reporting by Kirsten Donovan, Tamawa Desai and
George Matlock in London, and Steven C. Johnson, Emily Flitter,
Angela Moon and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York, Editing by
Chizu Nomiyama)
(To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope)
