Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. homes data buoy stocks, euro

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GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. homes data buoy stocks, euro Apr 26th 2012, 15:14 Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:14am EDT * U.S. pending homes sales near two-year high in March * Euro zone sentiment weaker than expected * Disappointing U.S. jobs data limit gains By Luciana Lopez NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Stocks and the euro edged higher o n T hursday, boosted by solid U.S. home sales data, but disappointing labor market figures and simmering worries over the euro zone kept gains in check. Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes increased solidly to a near two-year high in March, suggesting the spring selling season got off to a firmer start and offering hopes of a pick-up in housing. U.S. stocks rose shortly after the data, with the euro advancing against the dollar despite choppy trading early in the New York session. "In any case, progress on the housing market is going to be slow and gradual," said ING's Teunis Brosens. "The pick-up in sales over the past few months appears to be at least partly driven by all-cash buyers." The pending home sales data is an important clue to existing home sales, Brosens added. "Slowly but surely, the U.S. housing market is climbing out of the abyss." Equities seesawed early in the session after data showed an underlying trend for jobless figures rising, fueling fears that the U.S. labor market could struggle for some time. The euro also changed course several times early in the North American session, alternately weighed down by weaker-than-expected euro zone sentiment and boosted by the stronger U.S. housing market. "This choppiness and the back-and-forth have been very characteristic of the past several weeks already," said Vassili Serebriakov, senior currency strategist with Wells Fargo in New York. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's statement on Wednesday that U.S. monetary policy was "more or less in the right place" even though the central bank would not hesitate to launch another round of bond purchases if the economy were to weaken also lent support to riskier assets. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 39.81 points, or 0.30 percent, at 13,130.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.39 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,391.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.03 points, or 0.13 percent, at 3,033.66. The FTSEurofirst 300 dipped 0.03 percent, also rising into and out of positive territory. The MSCI world equity index rose 0.22 percent, off a better than two-week high hit earlier in the session. The euro rose slightly against the dollar, up 0.08 percent to $1.3232. But the single currency and the dollar both fell against the yen. The euro shed 0.47 percent to 106.90 yen and the dollar gave up 0.60 percent to 80.77 yen . The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 11/32, the yield at 1.9489 percent. Brent crude futures extended gains to more than $1, pushing above $120 a barrel as Wall Street equities and oil received a boost from the housing data. Brent June crude was up 88 cents at $120 a barrel, having traded from $118.78 to $120.17.  Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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