* Stocks waver on poor reading of U.S. consumer sentiment
* Dollar gains vs euro, flat against yen on risk aversion
* U.S., German bond prices rise after downbeat U.S. data
* Oil slips below $74 a barrel after consumer sentiment
(Adds opening of U.S. markets; byline, dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Global stocks wavered and oil
prices sank on Friday after a sour U.S. consumer sentiment
reading pricked optimism over upbeat results and outlooks from
technology bellwethers Oracle and Research in Motion.
The dollar gained against the euro but was flat against the
yen as U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly worsened in early
September to its weakest level in more than a year, boosting
risk aversion against the backdrop of possible currency
intervention by the Bank of Japan. For details see:
[]
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary
September reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment
fell to 66.6 from 68.9 in August. []
"I'm not surprised to see the market struggling a bit on
this," Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC
Capital Markets in Toronto, said about the consumer sentiment
report. "It plays into the uncertainties about what a
sustainable recovery would look like."
MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> edged up
0.16 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 Index
<> slipped 0.1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 3.94 points,
or 0.04 percent, at 10,598.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was up 1.39 points, or 0.12 percent, at 1,126.05. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 9.10 points, or 0.40
percent, at 2,312.35.
Wall Street opened sharply higher, with the benchmark S&P
500 Index breaking through a June 21 intraday high, after
bellwethers Oracle Corp <ORCL.O> and RIM <RIM.TO><RIMM.O>
reported better-than-expected results late Thursday.
[] []
No. 3 software maker Oracle jumped 5.5 percent to $26.75,
while BlackBerry maker RIM rose 2 percent at $47.42.
The S&P managed to briefly overcome key technical
resistance around 1,130, a level that has represented the top
of a trading range for months. Analysts said a decisive move
above that threshold would be a bullish sign.
U.S. government securities prices advanced and German
government bond futures extended gains as the weak consumer
sentiment data and European sovereign debt concerns enhanced
the allure of safe-haven government debt. []
[]
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up
8/32 in price to yield 2.73 percent.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell $1.16 to $73.45 a
barrel.
In currencies, the dollar was up against a basket of major
currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 0.19 percent
at 81.399.
The euro <EUR=> was down 0.30 percent at $1.3038, and
against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was unchanged at 85.76.
Copper rose to a 4-1/2 month high as falling inventories
and reassuring comments from China's central bank on monetary
policy boosted industrial metals. []
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $2.00 to $1,276.50 an ounce.
Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei share average <> rose
1.2 percent, capping a 4.2 percent gain for the week that was
the biggest weekly advance since December 2009, after
intervention in the yen brightened the prospects of exporters.
MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2
percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr, Nick Olivari and Ellen Freilich in
New York; Marie-Louise Gumuchian, George Matlock, Melanie
Burton and Michael Taylor in London; Writing by Herbert Lash;
Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
