GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks up, Intel beats forecast, data boosts debt

                                
 * Stocks end higher before Intel reports upbeat earnings
                                
 * Weak U.S. retail sales, weekly jobless data boost bonds
                                
 * ECB keeps interest rates on hold
                                
 By Daniel Bases
                                
 NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Global stock markets lacked
conviction on Thursday, closing just marginally higher before
technology bellwether Intel reported better-than-expected
earnings that will likely boost Friday's trading.
                                
 The results - a 28 percent increase in fourth-quarter
revenue plus a financial forecast well ahead of Wall Street's
expectations - helps soften the early disappointing U.S. retail
sales and weekly jobless claims data that undermined U.S.
stocks. [ID:nN13151343] [ID:nN14168822]
                                
 The data reinforced perceptions U.S. interest rates will
remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
                                
 "The market was able to shrug off the data because as long
as news is bad, government stimulus will keep coming," said
Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at
ChannelCapitalResearch.com in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
                                
 Prior to Intel's results, which are not only a technology
but also an economic proxy, the weak data helped push U.S.
Treasuries higher. A solid auction for $13 billion worth of
30-year U.S. Treasury bonds helped. [ID:nN14201569]
                                
 "The data have become shakier and these auctions continue
to go well," said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Trading
in Chicago.
                                
 The U.S. dollar recovered its losses against the Japanese
yen but barely held its advantage against the euro. Earlier the
euro was undermined by European Central Bank President
Jean-Claude Trichet when he reiterated the importance of a
strong dollar. The ECB left interest rates unchanged at a
record low of 1 percent.
                                
 "The U.S. continues to recover at a really slow pace," said
Joe Manimbo, a currency trader at Travelex Global Business
Payments, in Washington D.C. "If you add that to last week's
jobs data, that certainly dampens expectations of an early Fed
rate hike. Consequently, that sets the stage for a weaker
dollar."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 29.78
points, or 0.28 percent, to 10,710.55. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> gained 2.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to
1,148.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 8.84
points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,316.74.
                                
 Intel's shares closed up 2.48 percent to $21.48 and traded
around $21.84 a share in after-hours trading. Next up in the
U.S. earnings spotlight is JPMorgan <JPM.N>. Shares rose 0.99
percent to $44.69 ahead of results due on Friday.
                                
 U.S. financial company share prices recovered, having sold
off prior to U.S. President Barack Obama formally proposing
that Wall Street pay a fee of up to $117 billion to repay
taxpayers for the financial bailout. He lambasted bankers for
their "massive profits and obscene bonuses" at a time when the
U.S. unemployment rate is in double digits. [ID:nN14122824]
                                
  In Europe, shares closed higher, boosted by gains in the
pharmaceuticals sector. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300
<.FTEU3> rose 0.67 percent to 1,063.53 points.
                                
 MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> was up
0.48 percent to 309.18.
                                
 DATA IMPACT
                                
 The U.S. dollar rose 0.08 percent to 91.21 yen <JPY=>,
while the euro lost 0.02 percent to $1.4501 against the
greenback <EUR=>.
                                
 The weak U.S. data helped lift U.S. Treasury prices. The
benchmark 10-year Treasury note <US10YT=RR> gained 13/32 of a
point in price, pushing the yield down to 3.7421 percent.
                                
 Euro zone government bonds were slightly firmer at their
close, with 10-year yields <EU10YT=RR> down 1.3 basis points at
3.29 percent. Yields move inversely to price.
                                
 Concerns remain over Greece's ability to dig itself out of
its debt hole and what impact it may have on the euro zone.
                                
 The cost of insuring Greece's sovereign debt against
default rose to a record high of 334,800 euros per 10 million
euros of exposure on Thursday, according to 5-year credit
default swap prices from CMA DataVision. [ID:nLDE60D0US]
                                
 Analysts in a Reuters poll say there is a one in five
chance Greece will seek a financial bailout. [ID:nLDE60C154]
                                
 Crude oil prices dropped on a combination of government
data showing increased petroleum inventories and the weak U.S.
economic reports. The price for a barrel of oil was off 0.55
percent to $79.21 <CLc1>. Spot gold fell 0.06 percent to
$1,142.20 <XAU=>.
 (Additional reporting by Reuters correspondents worldwide)
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