* Global stocks edge higher as EU renews lifeline pledge
* Euro rises versus dollar on Greece bailout speculation
* Treasuries slip as market consolidates after auction
* Oil dips with focus on healthy supplies
(Updates with close of European markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Global equity markets jumped
and the euro strengthened against the dollar on Friday as
speculation mounted that a resolution to Greece's debt woes was
in hand and optimism rose on buoyant U.S. data.
Deputy finance ministers and central bankers in the euro
zone decided that any emergency loans would be made on terms
almost identical to standard International Monetary Fund
bailouts if Greece needed them, an European Union source said.
[]
The news came just as Fitch Ratings cut Greece's credit
ratings by two notches and signaled further downgrades were
possible, citing the country's growing fiscal challenges.
The Fitch report came out after the Greek market shut.
[]
Greek bank shares <.FTATBNK> closed 7.1 percent higher, on
speculation about a pending agreement and after a sharp
sell-off on Thursday and global markets edged higher.
European shares rallied to post a sixth consecutive weekly
gain, and major U.S. equity indexes also headed for sixth
straight week of gains, a streak last seen when stocks started
their long climb off decade lows in March 2009.
"The market is reacting to very much what is going on in
the Greek situation," said David Hussey, head of pan-European
equities at MFC Global Investment Management. "It is soothing
the markets."
The euro <EUR=> gained 0.85 percent versus the dollar at
$1.3471. Global equities measured by MSCI's All-Country World
Index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose almost 1 percent, snapping a two-day
losing run.
European banking shares bounced back after two days of
declines, while energy shares led U.S. stocks higher on news
that Reliance Industries <RELI.BO>, India's largest listed
firm, will form a joint venture with Atlas Energy <ATLS.O>.
Shares of Atlas, an independent gas company, jumped more
than 18 percent.
Shorly before 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average
<> was up 47.08 points, or 0.43 percent, at 10,974.15. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 5.06 points, or 0.43
percent, at 1,191.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up
9.59 points, or 0.39 percent, at 2,446.40.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed up 1.3 percent at 1,101.78 points and reached an
18-month high. The index is up nearly 71 percent from its
lifetime low reached in early March 2009.
HSBC <HSBA.L>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, UBS <UBSN.VX> and
Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX> gained 2.1 to 4.1 percent.
Speculation grew throughout the day about a Greek bailout
after the president of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy,
was quoted as saying that the EU stood ready to help Greece if
asked. []
Traders speculated that Greece would resort to an EU-IMF
lifeline to alleviate its ballooning debt even as the Greek
finance minister said Athens would not seek the EU-IMF aid
mechanism that European leaders had agreed to in March.
Billionaire financier George Soros told Reuters that the
Greek debt crisis was solvable if Germany agreed that any
emerging lending would be made with concessionary interest
rates, as suggested by the standard IMF bailouts.
[]
The dollar was down against a basket of major currencies,
with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.64 percent at 81.013.
Against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.18 percent at
93.21.
Gold rose to the highest level this year as concern over
the fiscal outlook for peripheral euro zone economies boosted
safe haven flows into the precious metal. []
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $11.80 to $1,161.90 an ounce.
U.S. Treasuries prices fell as rising equity markets and
signs of stabilization in Greece tarnished the luster of
safe-haven U.S. government debt. []
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 3/32 in price to yield 3.90 percent.
Oil fell to around $85 a barrel on Friday, retreating
further from an 18-month high reached on Tuesday, which some
attributed to a technical reversal. Investors also focused on
healthy oil supplies.
"Crude futures are falling on technical trading. Chart
moves show the front-month contract is trying to hold at the
breakout pattern around $84.87 a barrel," said Mark Waggoner,
president of Excel Futures in Oregon.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell 55 cents, or 0.64
percent, to $84.84 per barrel.
(Reporting by Wanfeng Zhou, Ellen Freilich in New York; Brian
Gorman, Emma Farge, Maytaal Angel and Kirsten Donovan in
London; writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie Adler)
