* Stocks rise on strong U.S., European corporate results
* Bonds gain before 2-year note auction, FOMC meeting
* Gold, silver retreat from record highs, eyes on Fed
* No respite seen for US dollar as Euro hits 16-month high
(Adds opening of U.S. markets, changes, byline, dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Stocks on major markets
moved higher on Tuesday and the U.S. dollar eased against the
euro as investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep its
easy monetary policy in place at its meeting this week.
U.S. government debt prices rose but largely traded in a
holding pattern before the auction of $35 billion in two-year
notes later in the session and ahead of Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke's news conference on Wednesday. For details see:
[]
Investors are focused on the U.S. central bank's first
scheduled briefing with reporters in its 97-year history, which
will cap the end of a two-day meeting of the policy-setting
Federal Open Market Committee.
"Investors are unlikely to learn from Bernanke when the Fed
will tighten as it is doubtful that he himself knows," said
Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown
Brothers Harriman in New York.
The InterContinental Exchange's U.S. dollar index <.DXY>, a
basket of major currencies, was down 0.08 percent at 73.93,
while the euro <EUR=> was up 0.20 percent at $1.4608.
The Fed is expected to say it will complete a $600 billion
bond-buying program known as quantitative easing that is
scheduled to end in June. []
If the Fed were to surprise the market and turn more
hawkish, it would pose a risk to the sizable amount of dollar
shorts in the currency market, analysts said.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up
4/32 in price to yield 3.35 percent.
Crude oil eased, while silver and gold tumbled after
pushing to new highs in the case of gold early Monday.
[]
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell 31 cents, or 0.28
percent, to $111.97 a barrel.
Spot silver <XAG=> ceded nearly 5.0 percent to $44.61 an
ounce after surging on Monday to within 17 cents of the record
$49.48 hit in January 1980.
Gold <XAU=> hit a record high of $1,518.10 a troy ounce on
Monday but slipped to $1,504.36. Spot gold <XAU=> fell $11.38
to $1,493.80.
"The rally has been strong. It's not surprising to see
profit-taking ahead of the FOMC meeting," said Peter Fertig, a
consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research.
"Markets expect it will be a dovish statement from the U.S.
Fed, but there are worries about them ending (quantitative
easing) ahead of time," Fertig said.
Wall Street rose after solid earnings from Ford Motor Co
<F.N>, 3M Co <MMM.N> and United Parcel Service <UPS.N>, and on
a survey of consumer confidence that topped analysts' forecasts
and showed inflation expectations eased somewhat in April.
[]
U.S. corporate earnings have been generally strong so far
this season, with around three-quarters of S&P 500 index
companies beating analysts' forecasts, helping lift the Dow
industrials up to near three-year highs.
Investors were cheered on Tuesday by a report that showed
consumers felt better about the short-term outlook. The
Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer
attitudes rose to 65.4 in April from a revised 63.8 in March.
[]
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 33.07
points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,512.95. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 4.49 points, or 0.34 percent, at
1,339.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 8.59
points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,834.47.
European stocks also rose, gaining ground for the fourth
consecutive session, after UBS's <UBSN.VX> results sparked a
rally in the financial sector. []
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
was up 0.1 percent at 1,143.21 points.
(Reporting by Julie Haviv, Edward Krudy, Ellen Freilich;
Pratima Desai and Sue Thomas in London; Blaise Robinson in
Paris; Writing by Herbert Lash)
