* G7 intervenes to weaken yen, riskier assets gain
* Nikkei rises 2.7 pct, European markets open higher
* Dollar spikes more than 3 percent to above 81 yen
* Oil rises on UN vote to intervene in Libya
By Emelia Sithole-Matarise
LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose and the yen
tumbled on Friday after the Group of Seven agreed on joint
intervention to weaken the Japanese currency and calm markets
worried about Japan's nuclear crisis.
European shares tracked a rally in Japanese equities, with
the FTSEurofirst 300 index rising 0.6 percent, although further
gains were limited by concern over the conflict in oil-producing
North Africa and the Middle East.
"The G7 intervention is calming the markets, but we still
need a few days of consolidation to think we are over the worst
of it," Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index in London,
said.
"It is just helping sentiment, and stocks sensitive to risk
will push on. But optimism is going to be guarded as there are
no firm resolutions surrounding the Japanese nuclear crisis and
the Middle East, and anything can happen on the weekend."
Brent crude jumped by $2 to near $117 a barrel on fears of
rising geopolitical tension in the oil-rich Middle East and
North Africa, after the United Nations approved military action
to contain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The G7 show of solidarity to support Japan as it struggles to
cope with its biggest crisis since World War Two comes a day
after the yen soared to a record 76.25 in chaotic trading. It is
the first coordinated currency intervention by the G7 in a
decade.
The dollar rose more than 3 percent to 81.63 yen, not far
from a session high of around 81.98 yen <JPY=>, following the G7
announcement, which came just as the Tokyo stock market opened.
But the U.S. unit quickly pared its gains.
The euro <EURJPY=R> jumped to a session high of 115.50 yen
according to Reuters data, from around 114.70 yen, but the rally
faded with some traders saying the scale of intervention was so
far a fairly tame effort to stem the yen's surge.
"(It's) more like doing smalls and trying to use rhetoric to
maximise the effect," said Richard Wiltshire, a currency trader
at ETX Capital in London. "It would need to be concerted and
aggressive....and even then I'm sceptical."
MIDDLE EAST WEIGHS
Japan's Nikkei share index <> climbed 2.7 percent,
recouping some of the week's stinging losses as Japan reeled
from an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant crisis.
[]
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> were last
up 0.2 percent, with the upward trend curbed by heightening
geopolitical tension in the Middle East.
German government bonds and U.S. Treasury prices reversed
earlier losses, driving yields lower with investors wary about
going into the weekend short of safe-havens given escalating
geopolitical tension in the Middle East and the events in Japan.
Brent was less than $4 away from a 2-1/2-year high of almost
$120 reached on Feb. 24, when an uprising against Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi shut down at least two-thirds of Libya's oil
output.
The U.N. Security Council, meeting in emergency session on
Thursday, passed a resolution endorsing a no-fly zone to halt
government troops now around 100 km (60 miles) from Benghazi.
It also authorised "all necessary measures" -- code for
military action -- to protect civilians against Gaddafi's
forces. []
Spot gold <XAU=> rose by as much as $11.35 to $1,413.75 but
was still off a record around $1,444 last week on high oil
prices, fears about civil war in Libya, unrest in the Middle
East and renewed worries about sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag and Joanne Frearson)
