* Yen, dollar fall on slower decline in US jobless claims
* Oil edges above $60 a barrel as risk aversion lifts
* Bonds fall as stock rise eases flight to safety buying
(Updates with U.S. markets activity, changes dateline;
previous LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - The widespread aversion to
risk across financial markets this week eased on Thursday,
lifting global stocks and commodity prices, including oil,
while curbing the appeal of government debt.
The yen and the U.S. dollar fell, giving back some of the
previous session's gains that were spurred by waning optimism
about economic recovery prospects. A decline in U.S. initial
jobless claims helped revive the appetite for risk.
Crude rebounded after tumbling below $60 a barrel, and
other commodities gained as the sliding dollar helped boost the
price of raw materials in local currencies.
Copper prices rebounded as investors took heart from
comments by the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday that
the global economy was slowly starting to pull out of the
world's worst recession since World War Two.
European shares bounced after five straight sessions of
losses, while the purchase of technology and commodity-related
shares lifted U.S. equity markets.
"Markets are gaining back some of the losses, but the
choppy performance will continue," said Gerhard Schwarz, head
of global equity strategy at UniCredit in Munich.
Shortly after 1:30 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average
<> was up 13.15 points, or 0.16 percent, at 8,191.56. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 5.04 points, or 0.57
percent, to 884.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up
12.34 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,759.51.
Britain's top share index closed 0.5 percent higher on a
fairly lackluster day of trading. The FTSE 100 <> index
closed 18.43 points firmer at 4,158.66.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
rose 0.8 percent at 823.32 points.
Data from Germany capped a week of positive developments in
Europe's largest economy, and a senior German official told
Reuters the country's recession may have ended.
Its trade surplus widened unexpectedly in May to 10.3
billion euros ($14.3 billion) from 9.0 billion in April, its
highest level since December, data from the Federal Statistics
Office showed. []
Higher stock prices helped reduce the safe-haven appeal of
government securities, while a Bank of England decision not to
boost its debt purchase program pared expectations the Federal
Reserve would enlarge its Treasury buying plan.
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell, euro zone government bond
futures eased and British government bonds tumbled on the BoE
decision, propelling 10-year gilt yields almost a fifth of a
point higher.
"It's a sentiment-driven issue, which the markets picked up
when the Bank of England said it was not expanding its
quantitative easing program -- which came as a surprise," said
David Page, economist at Investec.
"The BoE particularly is looking at the development in the
global economy as much as at the development in the UK economy,
and that has implications for the euro zone outlook as well."
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 28/32 in price to yield 3.41 percent. The 2-year U.S.
Treasury note <US2YT=RR> was down 1/32 in price to yield 0.93
percent.
Sterling climbed after the Bank of England kept its
quantitative easing target unchanged, relieving concerns that
the inflationary policy would be continued.
The dollar was down against a basket of major currencies,
with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 1.17 percent at 79.817.
The euro <EUR=> was up 1.24 percent at $1.4048. Against the
yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.28 percent at 93.07.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> rose 15 cents to $60.29 a
barrel.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $9.60 to $918.05 an ounce.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Richard Leong and Nick Olivari
in New York; Martina Fuchs, David Sheppard, Brian Gorman and
Christina Fincher in London; writing by Herbert Lash; Editing
by Dan Grebler)
