* U.S. stocks edge higher after U.S. economic data
* Oil prices firm in tandem with Wall Street
* All eyes on Friday's U.S. payrolls report
(Updates with European markets' close)
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Stocks and oil rose while U.S.
Treasuries fell on Thursday as data on U.S. housing and jobless
claims showed the world's largest economy did not appear to be
falling back into recession.
Investors began to shift their focus to Friday's U.S.
non-farm payrolls report from the Labor Department for
important clues about the economy.
The euro rose against the dollar, supported by healthy
results at Spanish and French bond auctions and stable global
equities.
U.S. Treasury debt prices eased as gains on Wall Street
undermined the safe-haven appeal of government debt.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> of top European shares
ended flat as investors took a breather after the previous
session's jump while recently hit construction stocks extended
their recovery, aided by positive U.S. data.
A string of grim economic figures last month fed fears that
the U.S. economy could slip back into recession, but a rally on
Wednesday in which Wall Street stocks logged their best day in
eight weeks eased concerns, which some had deemed overblown.
"Yesterday's rebound confirms that the recent sell-off
sparked by fears of a double-dip recession had been
exaggerated. After all, the data is not that bad," said Marc
Touati, head of economic research at Global Equities in Paris.
On Thursday reports showed pending sales of previously
owned U.S. homes rebounded unexpectedly in July, factory orders
rose slightly and new claims for jobless benefits fell last
week.
Touati added, "Tomorrow's payrolls figures will be a mixed
bag, but looking forward, the news flow is bound to improve and
the equity markets' current levels are a good buying
opportunity. Just look at all the M&A activity."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 9.23 points,
or 0.09 percent, at 10,278.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was up 5.86 points, or 0.54 percent, at 1,086.15. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 14.79 points, or 0.68
percent, at 2,191.63.
"The market was braced for a diaster after what we saw with
existing sales, so this is positive, while the factory orders
looked a little light compared with expectations," said John
Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.
"People are reluctant to do much of anything today except
position themselves for tomorrow and digest yesterday's
gains."
World stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> hit a two-week high earlier as
optimism from strong U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data
extended into a second day.
The benchmark FTSEurofirst index, which surged 2.9 percent
on Wednesday following strong manufacturing data from the
United States and China, is still down 2.1 percent from a peak
in early August.
Markets showed little reaction to Thursday's decision by
the European Central Bank to keep interest rates on hold at a
record low of 1 percent, as expected, amid tepid economic
recovery and persistent concerns about the banking sector.
[]
Comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude
Trichet had limited impact on the euro. For details, see
[]. The euro <EUR=> was up 0.12 percent at $1.2827
from a previous session close of $1.2811 supported by healthy
results at Spanish and French bond auctions.
France and Spain sold 12.2 billion euros of bonds, with the
average yield on the 5-year Bono dropping at auction and the
paper easily absorbed as the yield fell after the tender.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.28
percent at 84.20 from a previous session close of 84.420.
Analysts predicted U.S. non-farm payrolls probably fell for
a third straight month in August. []
Currency markets are not paying too much attention "to
anything but the jobs number tomorrow," said Greg Salvaggio,
vice president of trading at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell as investors took profits
from a recent hefty bond rally and ahead of the jobs report on
Friday.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 14/32, with the yield at 2.6285 percent. The 2-year U.S.
Treasury note <US2YT=RR> was up /32, with the yield at 0.5013
percent. The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond <US30YT=RR> was down
48/32, with the yield at 3.7304 percent.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> turned positive rising 0.5 percent to
$74.27 a barrel following Wall Street's strength, having pulled
back earlier on profit-taking after Wednesday's sharp gains.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $6.25, or 0.50 percent, to
$1250.10.
(Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson in London, Vivianne
Rodrigues and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by Kenneth
Barry)
