* Euro eases broadly as Greek debt crisis rattles markets
* Greek debt yields at 12-year highs as patience runs thin
* Global shares flat even as corporate results surprise
* Oil slips below $84 a barrel on lower inventories
(Updates with close of U.S. markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - The euro fell broadly on
Wednesday as Greek borrowing costs hit 12-year highs on growing
impatience over Greece's festering debt crisis, while global
stocks were flat despite strong U.S. corporate earnings.
The Dow and Nasdaq closed slightly higher while the S&P 500
edged down slightly as disappointing outlooks from health-care
companies took the edge off another round of
better-than-expected results from U.S. blue chips such as Apple
Inc. <AAPL.O>For details see: []
A report from the International Monetary Fund that the
global economy is recovering from recession more quickly than
expected and robust data on Chinese imports failed to overcome
investors' unease over the Greek debt saga. []
The euro fell for the fifth day to a two-week low versus
the U.S. dollar as the premium investors demand to hold Greek
government bonds rather than German Bunds surged past 500 basis
points. []
Greece is still holding out to finance its debt through
market issuance, but investors increasingly believe Athens will
be forced to tap a joint European Union-IMF emergency loan
package.[]
Investors' and traders' patience wore thin after Greece's
finance minister said EU-IMF talks will last two weeks and a
joint text will be agreed by May 15. []
Standard & Poor's rating agency said it does not expect
Greece to default. []
The yield on 10-year Greek debt rose to 8.4 percent, up
more than two and one-half percentage points since the start of
2010 and 2.5 times the 3.085 percent yield that Germany pays.
"Despite all the comments and help from the euro zone, EU
and IMF, the markets remain much too skeptical," said Win Thin,
senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New
York.
"The Europeans have been dragging their feet. The policy
reaction has been pretty lackluster," he added. "It calls into
question investors' confidence in the euro zone as a whole."
The euro <EUR=> dropped 0.3 percent to $1.3393, after
falling as low as $1.3359 earlier.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on persistent
worries about the implications of Greece's debt crisis.
[]
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> traded 14/32
higher in price to yield 3.75 percent.
Global stocks fell slightly. MSCI's all-country world index
<.MIWD00000PUS> was down 0.2 percent.
But U.S. banks helped buoy Wall Street after Morgan Stanley
posted stronger-than-expected profits and its shares rose 4
percent. The KBW Banks index <.BKX> rose 0.9 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> closed up 7.86
points, or 0.07 percent, at 11,124.92. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> fell 1.23 points, or 0.10 percent, to
1,205.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> inched up 4.30
points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,504.61.
"With all the good earnings we've had lately, you're
getting a bit of profit-taking," said Giri Cherukuri, head
trader at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois.
Other U.S. bellwethers whose earnings surprised on the
upside included AT&T Inc <T.N>, Boeing Co <BA.N>, McDonald's
Corp <MCD.N> and diversified U.S. manufacturer United
Technologies Corp <UTX.N>, all of which are Dow components.
AT&T fell slightly, McDonald's stock rose slightly and
shares of Boeing and United Technologies gained almost 4
percent each.
Oil prices fell as a rise in U.S. crude and refined product
inventories outweighed strong Chinese demand data and the
resumption of European flights. []
U.S. June crude futures <CLc1> settled down 17 cents at
$83.68 a barrel, while ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> settled up 90
cents at $85.70 a barrel.
Data showed China's implied oil demand in March rose 12.3
percent from a year earlier, the seventh straight month of
double-digit growth.
Copper ended little changed as spill-over support from
precious metals and energy complexes stabilized prices. Strong
data on Chinese imports helped turn around prices, with
palladium gaining 2 percent to a two-year high.
[]
China's imports of refined copper surged 52.9 percent in
March from the previous month, data showed. []
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> settled up $9.60
at $1,148.80 an ounce in New York.
(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Gene
Ramos, Chris Reese and Frank Tang in New York; Joanne Frearson,
Ian Chu, William James, Joe Brock and Humeyra Pamuk in London;
Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie Adler)
