* US stocks rebound late in session on earnings hopes
* Euro little changed on lingering concerns about Greece
* Lower oil prices pressure European, emerging stocks
(Updates to U.S. markets close)
By Walter Brandimarte
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed slightly
higher on Tuesday on hopes that key upcoming earnings results
would provide evidence the global economy is recovering, while
the euro was pressured by lingering concerns about Greece.
U.S. Treasury debt prices mostly rose on safe-haven buying
as investors remained cautious about the fiscal problems of the
weakest euro zone members and before a slew of key corporate
earnings that will help gauge the strength of the economy.
Greek bond prices fell after the country sold a total of
1.2 billion euros ($1.63 billion) of six-month and one-year
T-bills in its first borrowing test since the euro zone agreed
on a standby rescue package for the debt-laden country.
The very high yields paid on the bills -- 4.55 percent and
4.85 percent, respectively -- reminded investors of the soaring
costs Greece will have to pay to further access the market.
"Even though we had a pretty good Greek auction today,
people are still finding few reasons to buy the euro in the
medium term," said Vassili Serebriakov, senior currency
strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
In the United States, stocks initially fell after quarterly
results from Alcoa Inc <AA.N> late on Monday showed the
aluminum producer missed its revenue target, even as earnings
were in line with expectations. For details, see
[]
Stocks rebounded later in Tuesday's session, however, as
investors bet other big names such as Intel Inc <INTC.O>,
JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> and Google Inc <GOOG.O> would post
better earnings performances.
"Sure, there's some disappointment in Alcoa ... (but) I
think there are higher expectations for the overall market,
from Intel tonight," said Michael James, senior trader at
regional investment bank Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> ended 13.45 points
higher, or up 0.12 percent, at 11,019.42, while the Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> edged up 0.82 point, or 0.07 percent,
at 1,197.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> rose 8.12
points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,465.99.
Alcoa shares closed 1.58 percent lower.
After markets closed, Intel reported first-quarter earnings
that beat investor estimates, sending its shares about 4
percent higher in after-hours trading. []
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> of top European shares
ended 0.26 percent lower, with energy companies sliding after
U.S. crude oil prices pushed lower for a fifth consecutive
session.
Energy companies Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BG <BG.L>
and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> all fell between 0.6 and 1.7
percent.
Crude oil prices <CLc1> were more than 1 percent lower when
European markets closed, but they trimmed some of those losses
later to close down 29 cents, or 0.34 percent, at $84.05 a
barrel.
The drop also weighed on commodity-exporting emerging
economies, leading the MSCI stock index for emerging markets
<.MSCIEF> to decline 0.73 percent.
TREASURIES UP, EURO PRESSURED
Investors bought safe-haven U.S. Treasuries as cautious
sentiment prevailed after Greece's debt auction and on the eve
of a testimony to Congress by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke, who is expected to paint a cloudy picture of the
economy.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up
4/32 in price, its yield at 3.8223 percent. Prices for the
30-year bond <US30YT=RR> rose 5/32, sending the yield down to
4.6833 percent
Greece's 10-year bond yields <GR10YT=TWEB> rose from a
session low of around 6.72 percent to around 6.94 percent
according to Tradeweb, after the sale of short-term debt.
The euro <EUR=> gained 0.13 percent late in the session to
$1.3602 per dollar after hovering around the unchanged mark
during most of the day, pressured by the ongoing fiscal
problems of the euro zone.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> dipped 0.08
percent to 93.18 as a larger-than-expected U.S. trade deficit
prompted investors to debate the strength of the recovery in
U.S. manufacturing.
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Caroline
Valetkevitch; Editing by Dan Grebler)
