* Spain, Ireland, Belgium have solid debt sales
* Euro, stocks and commodities gain
* Data shrugged off, bonds under pressure
(Updates with U.S. markets open)
By Walter Brandimarte and Simon Falush
NEW YORK/LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Stocks, commodities
and the euro gained on Tuesday after successful sales of
government bonds by some of the weakest members of the euro
zone eased worries about the ability of debt-ridden European
countries to obtain market financing.
U.S. stocks rose about 1 percent as the euro -- which has
become a yardstick for equity investors to gauge risk appetite
-- rose above $1.23 to its strongest level since June 3.
European shares also rose as strong demand for Irish and
Spanish government debt offset jitters about Greece's fiscal
health, a day after Moody's downgraded Greece's debt rating to
junk status.
Belgium also held a successful bond auction on Tuesday.
Yields paid at the auctions, however, were still sharply
higher than a month ago, with investors still on edge after the
Moody's downgrade of Greece.
"The more the market starts to see that the credit markets
are beginning to return to normalcy, the better it becomes for
the euro," said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency
research at GFT in New York.
The single European currency <EUR=> rose as high as
$1.2305, according to the electronic trading platform EBS. It
remained 0.69 percent up at $1.2301 later.
Stocks rose across the board as investors felt safer to
take in risk, despite disappointing economic data in the United
States and Germany.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 97.72 points,
or 0.96 percent, to 10,288.61, while the Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> gained 10.95 points, or 1.0 percent, to 1,100.58.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 28.83 points, or 1.28
percent, at 2,272.79.
Industrial and technology sectors, which have high exposure
to Europe, led the U.S. advance. Planemaker Boeing Co <BA.N> up
rose 3 percent to $66.78, while Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> added 2
percent to $62.17.
The move is "all related to the euro. It determines how the
stock market behaves," said Joseph Battipaglia, market
strategist at Stifel Nicolaus in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
Gains were just modestly trimmed after a report showed U.S.
homebuilder sentiment fell in June by the sharpest amount since
the height of the financial crisis.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares climbed 0.8 percent, gaining ground for the fifth
consecutive session as more cyclical sectors like banks <.SX7P>
put on a strong performance.
European stocks largely ignored a slump in a closely
watched indicator of German investor sentiment. The ZEW
economic think-tank's indicator fell in June at its fastest
rate since 2008, hit by concerns over the European debt woes.
[]
World stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 0.9 percent, up for a
sixth day, while emerging market stocks <.MSCIEF> gained 0.6
percent, according to benchmark MSCI indexes.
U.S. Treasuries prices were just modestly up in thin
trading as demand for the safe-haven assets eased. The
benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up 3/32,
with the yield at 3.2492 percent.
Crude oil prices rose, supported by forecasts of reduced
crude stockpiles in the United States, though the market
remained wary after the Greek rating downgrade.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> rose $1.20, or 1.6 percent, to $76.32
per barrel.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
