* Upbeat U.S. earnings overcome weak US jobs data
* Greenback has only brief respite from losses vs euro
* Ericsson results disappoint, tars European stocks
(Updates with U.S. markets close, comment)
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday,
propelled by upbeat corporate earnings reports, particularly
from financial and consumer companies, which overcame
disappointing U.S. weekly jobless data.
The U.S. dollar strengthened broadly but gave up some
ground against the euro to weaken back above the $1.50 mark
after profit-taking early in the session combined with concerns
about the fragile U.S. jobs market sparked a greenback rally.
While the rally against the euro faded, the dollar's
advance against a basket of major currencies contributed to
weakness in oil prices while gold recovered from early losses.
Disappointing results from telecoms maker Ericsson
<ERICb.ST> soured the mood in European stock markets.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average <>
gained 131.95 points, or 1.33 percent, to close at 10,081.31
points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 11.51
points, or 1.06 percent, to 1,092.91. The Nasdaq Composite
Index <> rose 14.56 points, or 0.68 percent, at 2,165.29.
Solid earnings from Dow components Travelers Cos Inc
<TRV.N>, the largest U.S. publicly traded property-casualty
insurer, 3M <MMM.N>, a diversified technology company, and fast
food giant McDonald's Corp <MCD.N> helped lift the index.
"Stocks have been slowly inching their way up. Financials
have clearly been an outperformer after being a leader on the
downside yesterday," said Michael James, senior trader at
Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.
But a bigger-than-expected rise in the number of U.S
workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week
indicated the jobs market remains fragile, undermining the
optimism generated by the corporate results. For details, see
[]
One index of U.S. leading economic indicators rose to its
highest since October 2007, marking a string of gains for the
past six months through September. []
Yields on U.S. Treasuries <US10YT=RR> rose as investors
sold debt amid persistent concerns about massive amounts of
pending government debt issuance.
In Europe, euro zone government debt prices rose late in the session as investors switched to safer German Bunds after ratings agency Fitch downgraded Greece's sovereign debt.
Ericsson posted lower-than-expected third-quarter core
earnings and said sales in its key mobile networks market were
hampered by tough market conditions.
China's economic growth increased in the last quarter but
fell short of some of the more optimistic expectations. Stocks
in Shanghai closed lower. []
FLEETING RISE
Unsettled investors looked early on to the U.S. dollar for
a measure of safety, helping it recover ground versus the euro
and yen.
The greenback has traded in inverse correlation to equities
in recent months, based on shifting investor risk appetite.
But as U.S. stocks regained their footing, the dollar
slipped against the euro, hovering just below Wednesday's
14-month low.
In late New York trade, the euro <EUR=> traded up 0.18
percent at $1.5034 from a previous session close of $1.5008.
The dollar hit a one-month peak against the yen <JPY=> of 91.70
before drifting back to 91.27, up 0.31 percent from a previous
session close of 90.990.
Since April, the dollar has lost nearly 12 percent against
six other major currencies, with heavy selling in recent weeks
pushing it to multimonth lows. On Thursday, the U.S. dollar
index <.DXY> rose 0.11 percent to 75.052 from a previous
session close of 74.972.
The uneven gains for the dollar put downward pressure on
oil. Crude oil prices <CLc1> dipped 8 cents, or 0.1 percent, to
$81.29 per barrel, down from Wednesday's one-year high. Spot
gold <XAU=> rose 70 cents, or 0.07 percent, to $1,059.60 an
ounce.
Analysts said another trigger for the dollar's gains were
fears that China may start considering withdrawing some of its
emergency stimulus programs after data showed the economy grew
by a robust 8.9 percent in the third quarter.
But the government said it would retain its ultra-loose
monetary and fiscal policies, and China-based analysts added
growth was not strong enough to trigger a policy tightening.
"There are fears that when there is a removal of stimulus
the underlying fundamentals won't be enough to drive global
growth," said Camilla Sutton, senior currency strategist at
Scotia Capital in Toronto. "But the truth is there is a lot of
growth coming out of China and that whole region."
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> gained
0.05 percent with the emerging market component off around 0.50
percent <.MSCIEF>.
Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 <> lost 1.09 percent.
Japan's Nikkei <> closed down 0.64 percent.
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