* Citigroup, GE results lift stocks, S&P 500 for 6th week
* Dollar rises to a one-month high versus euro
* Bond prices slide as stock rally dulls safe-have buying
* Oil rises over $50, gold extends losses as dollar rises
(Adds close of U.S. markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Global stocks and oil rose
on Friday, extending a U.S. equity rally to six weeks, after
improving consumer sentiment and better-than-expected results
at Citigroup and General Electric bolstered hopes the U.S.
economy is stabilizing.
But comments by the two icons weighed on sentiment, raising
risk aversion and boosting the U.S. dollar. Citigroup indicated
consumer credit deterioration remained a worry and GE suggested
that fallout from commercial real estate losses may worsen.
The dollar touched a one-month high against the euro while
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on thin volume. Investors were
caught between fear of new bond supply on the one hand and
support from Federal Reserve buying on the other.
The rebound in U.S. consumer confidence and earnings that
surprised on the upside lifted oil, even as a nearly 19-year
high in crude inventories and stronger dollar kept a cap on
prices.
U.S. consumers expressed more confidence in the U.S.
economy than they have had since the sudden collapse of Lehman
Brothers in September, the Reuters/University of Michigan
Surveys of Consumers showed, giving equities a lift.
"The rate of deceleration in the economy is slowing," said
David Lutz, managing director of trading at Stifel Nicolaus
Capital Markets in Baltimore.
"From a macro standpoint, the reason for a lot of the drive
is just that we're continuing to get data points that show
things are beginning to operate very well in the credit
markets."
Shares of Citigroup <C.N> dropped 9 percent to $3.65, while
GE <GE.N> rose 1 percent to $12.39 after falling earlier in the
session.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 5.90 points,
or 0.07 percent, to 8,131.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> gained 4.30 points, or 0.50 percent, to 869.60. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 2.63 points, or 0.16
percent, to 1,673.07.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained
1.5 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.2 percent. The S&P 500
extended its rally to six straight weeks.
Banks in Europe rallied on hopes that the worst was over
for the battered banking sector, lifting an index of leading
regional companies to a 4.7 percent gain for the week.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
rose 1.6 percent to 814.69 points, its highest close in more
than two months.
"What this shows, and what the market is reacting to
directly is that banking is very profitable if you take out all
the stupid stuff, like exotic derivatives," said David Evans,
market analyst at BetOnMarkets.com.
Oil prices rose above $50 a barrel on news of the rebound
in U.S. consumer confidence and the earnings reports.
However, the high crude oil inventories, the stronger
dollar and continuing worries about the economic outlook kept a
cap on prices.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> settled at $50.33, 35 cents
higher. ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> settled at $53.35, up 29 cents.
"You've got two forces kind of battling and we're basically
just stuck here around $50," said Tom Bentz, senior commodity
analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc in New York.
A speech by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude
Trichet failed to dispel uncertainty about the bank's policy
steps next month, weighing on the euro. The euro <EUR=> fell
1.18 percent at $1.3022.
"A little bit of risk aversion and euro weakness ... is
boosting the dollar," said Paresh Upadhyaya, a portfolio
manager at Putnam Investments in Boston.
"The market still remains skeptical about what this means
going forward for the financial sector" despite Citigroup's
results, he said.
The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, with
the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 0.96 percent at 86.02. Against
the yen, the dollar <JPY=> slipped 0.03 percent at 99.24.
The strong rally in stocks eroded the safe-haven appeal in
bonds.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> fell
30/32 in price to yield 2.95 percent. The 2-year U.S. Treasury
note <US2YT=RR> fell 5/32 in price to yield 0.98 percent.
Gold fell about 1 percent on the dollar rise and stock
rally, denting its appeal as an alternative investment.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM9> settled down
$11.90 at $867.90 an ounce in New York.
Asian stocks rose after results on Thursday from JPMorgan
and Google kept shares on track for a sixth week of gains.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> edged up 0.3 percent on the day, while Japan's
Nikkei share average <> climbed 1.7 percent.
(To read Reuters Global Investing blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope; for Hedge
Fund blog, click on http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub)
(Reporting by Edward Krudy, Wanfeng Zhou, Pedro Nicolaci da
Costa in New York; Brian Gorman, Catherine Bosley, Ikuko Kao
and Jan Harvey in London; writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by
Dan Grebler)
