* Euro extends gains on Greece debt optimism
* Commodities-related stocks gain as oil, copper rise
* Greece bond sale completed but high yields required
(Updates with New York closing prices)
By Al Yoon
NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - European efforts to ease
Greece's debt crisis and a Greek bond sale lifted the euro on
Monday, clearing a path for energy and mining stocks that
benefit from a weaker dollar.
Expectations a Friday report will show U.S. businesses
hired for the first month since November also buoyed stocks.
[].
Strength in world equities followed a European Union,
European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund accord to
provide a safety net to Greece and persuade markets it and
other peripheral euro zone economies will not default on
bonds.
On Monday, Greece tapped the capital markets for the first
time since it gained the fiscal support last week. For details,
see: [].
The euro, which has been battered by the crisis, rose about
a half percent against the dollar <EUR=> to $1.3478. It also
gained against the Swiss franc, Swedish crown, Japanese yen and
British pound.
"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.
Without fresh impetus on Monday, euro gains represented
"follow through" from a rally on Friday, said Michael Woolfolk,
a senior strategist at BNY Mellon in New York.
The Greek seven-year bond raised 5 billion euros at 5.9
percent, about twice the yield offered on German debt. While
completed, it drew significantly less demand than previous
10-year Greek bonds due to the shorter maturity, thin markets
and concern Greece's fiscal problems could drag on.
U.S. government debt prices declined slightly as
improvements in the U.S. economy and brightening prospects for
Greece lessened the safe haven appeal of Treasuries. 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. U.S. stocks rose as
mining and energy companies advanced on dollar weakness.
Investors also purchased strong-performing shares to improve
portfolio statistics for quarter end.
In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average
<> rose 45.50 points, or 0.42 percent, to 10,895.86. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 6.63 points, or 0.57
percent, to 1,173.22 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <>
increased 9.23 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,404.36.
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.
Should the data meet those expectations it would mark the
best month of job creation in two years. Markets will be closed
on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.
Major energy companies shares jumped with the price of oil.
Commodities also surged as the dollar's weakness buoyed their
outlook, with copper prices among biggest gainers.
Copper for May delivery <HGK0> on the New York Mercantile
Exchange's COMEX division surged 13.25 cents, or 3.9 percent,
to settle at $3.5355 per lb -- the highest closing level for a
third-position contract since late August 2008. Low inventory
also supported copper prices.
The S&P energy index <.GSPE> gained 1.8 percent as oil
futures surged more than 3 percent to $82.48 a barrel.
Dollar-denominated oil and metals become less expensive for
holders of other currencies when the dollar falls.
Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> gained 1.14 percent to $67.30.
Among miners, shares of Newmont Mining <NEM.N> climbed 2
percent to $50.37.
European shares ended higher, with miners there also
supported by strong metals prices, offsetting weaker banks.
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 United States and emerging markets lifted
MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> 0.66 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.
Elsewhere in currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped against a
basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S.
dollar index <.DXY> off 0.5 percent at 81.251. The dollar
<JPY=> was little changed at 92.46 yen.
(Additional reporting by Kirsten Donovan, Tamawa Desai and
George Matlock in London, and Steven C. Johnson, Emily Flitter,
Angela Moon, Caroline Valetkevitch, Vivianne Rodrigues, Ellis
Mnyandu and Chris Kelly in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)
(To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope)
