* Dow, S&P 500 down for third straight week
* Global shares gyrate on Bernanke, Intel
* Euro rises but yen drops on intervention concerns
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose on Friday,
as bargain hunters erased early losses sparked by downbeat
remarks on the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke and a warning of lower revenues by bellwether Intel.
The combination of the two factors sent stocks reeling and
caused a surge of safe-haven buying of the U.S. dollar. Oil and
gold prices also fell. But those losses proved short-lived.
The accumulation of gloomy economic data and market losses
for much of August proved too tempting for investors looking to
pick up assets on the cheap.
For instance, on the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 stock
index, early losses pulled the overall level down to 1,040, a
key level of technical resistance.
"We're sitting on important support and in thin markets you
don't want to be leaning too far in one direction coming into a
very low volume week," said Richard Ross, global technical
strategist at Auerbach Grayson in New York.
"If you were short the market throughout this month, you
made a nice profit, you want to lock that in."
Even U.S. economic data showing a sharp downward revision
in second quarter gross domestic product was less gloomy than
economists expected and underpinned share prices in Europe as
well as on Wall Street. For details, see []
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones industrial average
<> gained 164.84 points, or 1.65 percent, to 10,150.65. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 17.37 points, or 1.66
percent, to 1,064.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index <>
climbed 34.94 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,153.63.
For the week the Dow industrials fell 0.61 percent, the S&P
500 lost 0.66 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.19 percent.
Stocks initially fell after Bernanke said the central bank
was ready to counter a softening recovery, saying
unconventional measures would be considered, but gave no hints
on what the Fed intended to do. []
But the Fed chairman downplayed concerns the economy might
slip back into recession, reassuring investors spooked by his
recent comments that the economy faced "unusual uncertainty."
Intel Corp <INTC.O> said third-quarter revenue would be
below its previous outlook, perhaps by as much as $1 billion
due to weaker demand for personal computers. The stock fell
after the forecast, but relief the downward revision wasn't
worse led to end of day share gains of 1.05 percent to $18.37.
[]
Europe's top stocks held gains into the close of trade, but
lost ground for a third straight week. The FTSEurofirst 300
index <> gained 0.6 percent on the day, but slipped 0.27
percent on the week.
European telecoms performed well, with Vodafone <VOD.L>, BT
<BT.L>, Telefonica <TEF.MC>, Deutsche Telekom <DTEGn.DE> and
France Telecom <FTE.PA> rose between 1.9 and 2.8 percent.
The MSCI All-Country World equity index <.MIWD00000PUS>
rose 0.41 percent, off a seven-week low hit earlier this week.
The index is down 2.9 percent so far in August. The Thomson
Reuters global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> gained 0.77 percent.
Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> climbed 1.46 percent.
CURRENCIES AND DEBT
The euro recovered against the U.S. dollar following
Bernanke's comments and Intel's report.
After slipping as low as $1.2676 <EUR=> according to
Reuters data in the initial reaction, the euro traded at
$1.2732, up 0.10 percent.
The dollar, however, held its gains against the yen, rising
0.90 percent at 85.21 <JPY=>.
Analysts said the dollar would remain supported against
other safe haven assets because Bernanke gave no firm
commitment the central bank would provide additional easing,
which could put downward pressure on interest rates.
The yen is under pressure as speculation persisted that
Tokyo might take steps to stem export-damaging strength in the
Japanese currency. The yen is hovering near a 15-year peak of
83.60 against the greenback on safe-haven trade that is choking
off its already slumbering economy.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he would take firm action on
currencies when needed and that he would meet Bank of Japan
Governor Masaaki Shirakawa when the central bank chief returns
from the Jackson Hole conference. []
The BOJ's policy board is scheduled to hold a regular
two-day meeting starting on Sept. 6, the paper said.
"I don't think we'll see intervention around current levels
unless we get a disorderly move where dollar/yen falls sharply,
say by 3 yen, during one day," said Gavin Friend, currency
strategist at nabCapital.
U.S. Treasuries prices fell on profit-taking after Bernanke
signaled no imminent bond buying by the central bank.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury <US10YT=RR> fell 1-14/32
points in price, driving the yield up to 2.65 percent.
German Bund futures <FGBLc1> settled 28 ticks lower to
133.66, with traders saying the market was disappointed that
Bernanke didn't announce any new stimulus measures.
Crude oil <CLc1> settled up 2.47 percent to $75.17 per
barrel, and spot gold prices <XAU=> gained $2.56 to $1,237.50.
(Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Burton Frierson,
Vivianne Rodrigues, Ryan Vlastelica, Franklin Paul, Nick
Olivari, Natsuko Waki, Atul Prakash, Ian Chua; Editing by
Andrew Hay)
