* Dow tops 9,000 on earnings, U.S. housing data
* Oil prices soar to three-week high on Wall Street's rise
* Dollar, euro gain vs yen as US data spurs recovery hopes
* Stocks rally, looming supply knock government debt lower
(Adds close of U.S. markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Crude oil jumped and Wall
Street surged 2 percent on Thursday, pushing the Dow to an
eight-month closing high, after improving U.S. home sales and
strong corporate results spurred optimism that economic
recovery is under way.
The Dow pushed above the 9,000 mark, rising 188 points, in
a broad rally that lifted all 10 sectors of the benchmark S&P
500 into positive territory. The Nasdaq posted its 12th
consecutive gain -- its longest winning streak since 1992.
Asian stocks climbed to a 10-month high, European shares
hit an eight-month high and emerging markets <.MSCIEF> ended at
10-month highs.
The dollar and euro rallied against the yen and government
debt prices fell as the upbeat corporate results and U.S.
housing data dented demand for safe-haven assets.
[]
Crude oil rose to a three-week high over $67 a barrel while
copper, widely viewed as a harbinger of economic activity
because of its industrial use, reversed losses to hit a
nine-month high.
"The data that we saw today, coupled with some of earnings
reports, are increasing the momentum that we're likely to see a
recovery this year," said Joe Manimbo, a currency trader at
Travelex Global Business Payments in Washington.
The VIX <.VIX>, a measure of investor sentiment known as
Wall Street's fear gauge, fell to its lowest point since early
September, just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked
the deepest bear market since World War Two.
U.S. stocks were spurred by stronger second-quarter
corporate earnings and outlooks. Results from bellwethers,
including AT&T Inc <T.N> on Thursday and eBay Inc <EBAY.O>
after Wednesday's market close, ignited a rally that lifted all
three major U.S. stock indexes to 2009 highs.
U.S. existing-home sales in June notched their third
monthly rise, a sign that the housing industry was slowly
healing. New jobless benefits claims, however, rose last week.
[]
The Dow Jones industrial average <> closed up 188.03
points, or 2.03 percent, to 9,069.29 -- its highest close since
November and first close above 9,000 since January.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 22.22 points,
or 2.33 percent, to 976.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index <>
climbed 47.22 points, or 2.45 percent, at 1,973.60.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed up 2 percent at 908.15 points in its longest winning
streak since late 2006.
"A lot of this optimism is priced into the market. The
concern does remain that perhaps the market has gotten ahead of
itself in terms of the fundamentals and could be vulnerable to
a decent correction," said Matthew Zeman, head of trading with
LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> rose $1.76 to settle at $67.16 a
barrel, the highest since July 1, while London Brent <LCOc1>
rose $2.04 to $69.25.
The euro climbed to $1.4291 <EUR=>, the strongest level
since early June, before paring gains to trade little changed
at $1.4206.
The dollar gained 1.8 percent to 95.25 yen <JPY=> after
hitting a more than two-week high at 95.29 yen.
The price of 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds dropped two full
points on the day, and seven-year notes lost a point, as the
rally in stocks eroded the safe-haven bid for government debt.
The price of 10-year Treasuries <US10YT=RR> fell 1-8/3 to
yield 3.71 percent, while 30-year bonds <US30YT=RR> were
2-10/32 lower in price, yielding 4.60 percent.
Copper for September delivery <HGU9> in New York eased 0.15
cent to end at $2.5240 a pound.
U.S. gold for August delivery <GCQ9> settled up $1.50 at
$954.80 an ounce in New York.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose to 1.25 percent, furthering an earlier
rise in Asia. Japan's Nikkei share average <> ended 0.7
percent
(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu, Wanfeng Zhou, Richard Valdmanis,
and Burton Frierson in New York; Harpreet Bhal and George
Matlock in London; writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
