* Euro recovers, buoyed by hopes of Greek rescue package
* Risk premiums fall as investors sense Greek deal
* Oil rises toward $85 a barrel as EU debt woes ease
* Global stocks rise as risk appetite returns to markets
(Updates with opening of U.S. markets; adds byline, dateline
NEW YORK)
By Herbert Lash and Dominic Lau
NEW YORK, LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - The euro rebounded
from one-year lows and risk premiums eased on Thursday as
Greece readied severe austerity measures to secure a planned
aid package that would be bigger than initially thought.
Hopes of a resolution to Greece's debt problems lifted
crude oil prices above $85 a barrel while global equities
advanced after two days of losses. For details see:
[]
Officials from the International Monetary Fund, the
European Central Bank and the European Union met with Greek
representatives, and sources familiar with the talks said
details of a three-year deal would be announced by Monday.
[]
News of an expected aid package of up to 135 billion euros
($180 billion) sparked a relief rally across markets that had
feared contagion would engulf the euro zone. Debt yield
premiums eased and the cost of insuring riskier debt dropped as
investors grew more confident a deal was in sight.
Uncertainty over the size and timing of a planned aid
package for Greece has weighed on markets for weeks, while
concerns of spreading sovereign credit risk gained on Wednesday
after Standard & Poor's cut Spain's rating one notch.
Earlier in the week S&P lowered Greece to junk status and
downgraded Portugal. []
"The market seems slightly more comfortable today, with the
expectations of an imminent aid package," said Matthew Strauss,
a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in
Toronto.
The euro <EUR=> was up 0.1 percent against the dollar to
$1.3224 after rising as high as $1.3280 earlier.
Also lifting risk aversion was a report that said euro zone
economic sentiment in April was better than expected, which
could boost consumer spending and consumption. []
In the United States, the Federal Reserve's assurance on
Wednesday that it would keep interest rates low for an extended
period also helped ease risk aversion.
European stocks rose, recovering from the market's worst
two-day slide in nearly three months, following a slight easing
in Asian equity markets. Wall Street pushed higher.
Positive corporate results continued to raise investors'
risk appetite, with Banco Santander up 4 percent after the euro
zone's largest bank posted forecast-beating results.
In the United States, profits from Aetna Inc <AET.N> and
Visa Inc <V.N> beat expectations but Procter & Gamble Co <PG.N>
forecast results below expectations and Exxon Mobil Corp
<XOM.N> posted earnings that were below expectations.
"(P&G and Exxon) are certainly market share leaders and
important for their industries, but the overwhelming sense of
earnings this season has been pretty positive. So I'm not too
weighed down on those," said Andy Fitzpatrick, director of
investments at Hinsdale Associates in Hinsdale, Illinois.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 58.72
points, or 0.53 percent, at 11,103.99. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 8.86 points, or 0.74 percent, at
1,200.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 12.66
points, or 0.51 percent, at 2,484.39.
MSCI's all-country world index of stocks <.MIWD00000PUS>
rose 0.9 percent.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> rose $1.88 to $85.10.
ICE Brent crude for June <LCOc1> rose $1.15 to $87.31.
U.S. Treasury debt prices were lower. The benchmark 10-year
U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was down 1/32 in price to yield
3.77 percent.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $2.60 to $1,167.50 an ounce.
The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside of Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was off 0.1 percent, while Japanese markets
were closed for the start of the country's long Golden Week
holiday.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Vivianne Rodrigues, Richard
Leong in New York; George Matlock, Emma Farge in London; Blaise
Robinson in Paris; Writing by Herbert Lash, Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama)
