* Global stocks rise in thin trade on homebuilder takeover
* U.S. dollar falls vs yen as risk appetite remains low
* Oil gains after distillates fall more than expected
* U.S. govt debt mixed after lackluster Fed purchase
(Recasts with U.S. markets, changes dateline, previous
LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose on
Wednesday, buoyed by a $1.3 billion takeover bid for a U.S.
homebuilder that may spell a bottom for the beleaguered housing
sector, but the dollar fell on concerns about U.S. corporate
earnings.
Thin volume before the long Easter weekend kept risk
appetite low among investors and boosted the safe-haven appeal
of the yen, government debt and gold.
Oil swung to above $51 a barrel after data from the U.S.
Department of Energy showed fewer crude imports and more
refinery efficiency in the past week.
Investors were buffeted by both bullish and bearish news.
U.S. homebuilders got a boost after Pulte Homes <PHM.N>
said it would buy Texas-based builder Centex <CTX.N> for $1.3
billion in stock against the backdrop of a troubled industry.
For more see [].
The S&P homebuilders' index <.SPHOME> rose 1.34 percent.
The bid, along with a rise in U.S. mortgage applications,
"may be pieces of the puzzle that things are starting to thaw
on the housing front," said Todd Clark, managing director of
stock trading at Nollenberger Capital Partners in San
Francisco.
"Everyone has been saying the first market that has to be
fixed or stabilized is housing so everyone is looking for signs
of that to be able to jump on board," Clark said.
Life insurers cut gains on comments from the U.S. Treasury
Department that appeared to douse aspects of a Wall Street
Journal story that said the government planned to extend the
Trouble Asset Relief Program to the insurance industry.
[]
Any hope for better-than-expected earnings faded after
transportation company Ryder System Inc <R.N> cut first-quarter
earnings per share guidance. Shares slumped 18 percent to
$24.24.
Before 1 p.m. (1700 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average
<> was up 82.35 points, or 1.06 percent, at 7,871.91. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 11.24 points, or 1.38
percent, at 826.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up
30.38 points, or 1.95 percent, at 1,591.99.
In Europe, miners advanced with a rise in key base metals
prices, while financials recouped some of their recent losses.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed 0.3 percent higher at 762.58 points. The benchmark is
down 8 percent this year after plunging 45 percent in 2008.
Concerns about corporate earnings and weak trade data
continued to dampen enthusiasm for higher-risk assets,
increasing the allure of lower-risk fixed income paper.
After Alcoa kicked off U.S. earnings seasons with a gloomy
update following Tuesday's U.S. market close, Japanese
electronics maker Sharp doubled its loss estimate for the year
just ended, while German carmaker Daimler forecast a
"considerable" drop in revenue this year.
Trade data from Germany, France and Japan showed a further
weakening in global commerce as recession takes hold.
[]
U.S. government bonds were mixed after an unimpressive
round of Treasuries buying by the Federal Reserve sapped the
market's earlier verve.
The Fed said it bought $2.97 billion worth of Treasuries
maturing in 2010 and 2011 as it extended its program of buying
government bonds, which is aimed at smoothing credit conditions
in the troubled U.S. economy.
However, some analysts had expected purchases closer to the
$7 billion range, leading shorter-dated bonds to dip.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> rose
4/32 in price to yield 2.89 percent. The 2-year U.S. Treasury
note <US2YT=RR> fell 3/32 in price to yield 0.96 percent.
Currencies were largely being driven by market risk
sentiment and equity markets.
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, with
the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.19 percent at 85.059.
Against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.71 percent at
99.79 yen.
The euro <EUR=> rose 0.21 percent at $1.3295.
"It seems that risk aversion has returned to the market
after the short period of exuberance following the G20
meeting," said Ronald Simpson, managing director of global
currency analysis at Action Economics in Tampa, Florida.
"The market is back to buying dollars against the euro and
the commodity bloc when stocks go down and doing the opposite
when they go up," he added. "There's no real direction here."
Oil rose after the Energy Information Agency said
inventories of crude rose 1.7 million barrels to 361.1 million
barrels in the week ended April 3. Analysts had forecast a
build of 1.9 million barrels. []
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> rose $1.61 to $50.76 a
barrel. Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $6.65 to $886.70 an
ounce.
Stocks tumbled overnight in Asia. Japan's Nikkei share
average <> fell 2.7 percent and the MSCI index of Asia
Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 2.9 percent.
(Reporting by Wanfeng Zhou, Burton Frierson and Robert Gibbons
in New York, and Kirsten Donovan, Atul Prakash, Jan Harvey and
Chris Baldwin in London; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by
James Dalgleish)
