* World stocks gain on further economic rebound signs
* Wall St mixed as GM shares weigh on U.S. stock indexes
* Oil at six-month high, emerging-market stocks rally
By Walter Brandimarte
NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) - World stocks rose along with
oil prices on Wednesday as signs of economic recovery sprang up
from Japan to the United States, curbing investor appetite for
lower-yielding assets such as U.S. Treasuries.
Data showing a pick-up in U.S. home sales added to news
that Japan's exports rose again in April and consumer
confidence improved in France and Sweden, putting a benchmark
index of global stocks on track to close at its highest level
so far this year.
U.S. crude oil prices <CLc1> jumped more than 1 percent to
over $63 a barrel, their highest in six months, sending
emerging-market stocks rallying.
"There's no question that the extreme collapse in the
economy that we saw in the fourth and first quarters is over,"
said Robert Blake, senior currency strategist with State Street
in Boston.
"But things are still not that great out there, so we are a
little skeptical of the 'green shoots' optimism on the economic
side," he added.
U.S. existing home sales climbed in April to an annual rate
of 4.68 million from a 4.55 million pace in March, slightly
higher than market expectations for a 4.66 million-unit pace.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> climbed 0.6
percent after the data, while the MSCI index for
emerging-market stocks <.MSCIEF> jumped 2.5 percent.
The news also supported Wall Street, although a 14.5
percent slump in shares of General Motors Corp <GM.N> weighed
on the main U.S. stock indexes. The automaker is getting closer
to a bankruptcy filing after the failure of a proposed bond
exchange.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> lost 0.31 percent,
while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was practically
flat and the Nasdaq Composite Index <> climbed 0.5
percent.
European equities finished higher for a third straight
session, after France, Europe's second-largest economy, posted
a small rise in consumer confidence for May. In Sweden,
consumer confidence also beat estimates.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> of top European shares ended
0.6 percent higher, booking gains in eight of the past 10
sessions.
SKEPTICAL FX MARKETS
Currency investors took the U.S. home sales report with a
grain of salt, however.
The U.S. dollar weakened against the British pound <GBP=>,
but still firmed against the euro, with analysts saying a rise
in inventories of unsold U.S. homes increased the dollar's
safe-haven appeal.
The sterling traded above $1.60 for the first time in
almost seven months. The euro <EUR=> weakened 0.53 percent at
$1.3915. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was up
0.04 percent at 95.04.
As investor appetite for risk continued to grow, prices of
benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> fell 4/32,
sending its yield to a six-month high of 3.5621 percent.
Yield spreads between U.S. Treasuries and emerging-market
sovereign bonds, a key gauge of risk aversion, tightened 11
basis points to 448 basis points on the benchmark JPMorgan
EMBI+ index <11EMJ>.
(Additional reporting by Vivianne Rodrigues; Editing by James
Dalgleish)
