* US dollar extends losses vs euro, yen
* U.S. stocks open lower as economic data dissapoints
* Government debt prices gain after US jobless, GDP data
* Crude oil pares gains on slowing U.S. economy
(Adds opening of U.S. markets, byline, dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Mike Peacock and Herbert Lash
LONDON/NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar
extended losses on Thursday and Wall Street stocks opened
slightly loweron news that U.S. first quarter economic growth
braked sharply while new weekly claims for jobless benefits
rose.
Crude oil prices were higher but pared gains on prospects
after U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter slowed
to a 1.8 percent annual pace. For details see: []
[]
U.S. Treasuries prices rose and German government bond
futures extended gains to hit session highs after the Commerce
Department said the economy had slowed from 3.1 percent growth
in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits
jumped to 429,000 last week, higher than the 392,000 Reuters
consensus forecast.
Major world stocksmarkets had surged to near three-year
highs on Wednesday after the policy-makers at the Federal
Reserve signaled continued low interest rates and an
accommodative monetary policy.
"With the amount of injection of capital into the economy,
you'd hope that we would be able to get above 2.0 percent
growth," said William Larkin, a portfolio manager with Cabot
Money Management. "In the short-term this is bad for stocks and
good for bonds."
But analysts said equities may advance in the near term on
strong earnings and on hopes U.S. monetary policy will stay
ultra loose. []
After opening lower, the Dow Jones industrial average
<> was up 9.61 points, or 0.08 percent, at 12,700.57
mid-morning in New York. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was down 0.44 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,355.22. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 5.84 points, or 0.20
percent, at 2,864.04.
While U.S. first quarter corporate earnings have been good,
there were signs higher energy costs were affecting some
companies. Procter & Gamble Co <PG.N> lowered the high end of
its profit forecast as it tries to trim expenses and increase
prices to offset rising materials costs. Procter shares fell
0.7 percent to $63.54.
Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR>, up 7/32 in price
before the reports were released, rose to a 10/32 gain
afterwards, their yields easing to 3.32 percent from 3.36
percent on Wednesday.
The Bund future <FGBLc1> rose to 122.60 from 122.43 just
before release of the data. The cash 10-year Bund yield was
down four basis points at 3.243 percent <DE10YT=TWEB>.
The U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY>, a basket of six major
currencies, was down 0.62 percent at 73.066.
The euro <EUR=> was up 0.31 percent at $1.4822, and against
the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.96 percent at
81.42.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> rose 37 cents to $113.13
a barrel.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $7.26 to $.1533.60 an ounce.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Edward Krudy and Ellen
Freilich; Atul Prakash, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Rebekah
Curtis in London; Writing by Herbert Lash)
