GLOBAL MARKETS-Company earnings lift stocks; gold at record

                                
 * Stocks rise on upbeat U.S., European corporate earnings
                                
 * Australian dollar hits fresh 29-year high vs dollar
                                
 * Gold touches an all-time high above $1,500/ounce
                                
 
                                
 By Dominic Lau
                                
 LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Upbeat earnings from companies
including chip maker Intel lifted stocks and boosted appetite
for riskier assets on Wednesday, driving commodities higher and
the Australian dollar to a 29-year high versus the dollar.
                                
 The positive showing so far in the quarterly earnings season
has helped offset concerns of government debt problems on both
sides of the Atlantic after Standard & Poor's on Monday cut the
outlook on the United States to negative.
                                
 However, some investors remain wary of government debt
problems, inflation and turmoil in the Middle East, and sent
gold to an all-time high above $1,500.
 "While S&P grabbed some headlines earlier in the week, on a
future event that may or may not happen, it seems things on the
ground are coming up pretty good," said Philip Isherwood,
European equities strategist at Evolution Securities.
                                
 "The economic and corporate message is good. There is
nothing to fear but fear itself."
                                
 Intel <INTC.O> posted higher than expected sales and
forecast quarterly revenues well above Wall Street's estimates,
while the world's biggest cosmetics group, L'Oreal <OREP.PA>,
and carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA> also came in with
robust figures.
                                
 Of the 45 S&P 500 <.SPX> companies that have reported
first-quarter earnings so far, 79 percent have either beaten or
met market expectations while the remainder came in below
forecasts, data from Thomson Reuters StarMine showed.
                                
 U.S. stock index futures <SPc1> <DJc1> <NDc1> rose 0.9 to
1.2 percent, indicating a firm start on Wall Street.
                                
 Societe Generale said in a note that hedge funds were
cautious on U.S. equities, keeping short positions on the S&P
500 <.SPX> and the Russell 2000 <.RUT>, though they were net
long on Japanese equities.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> rose 1.8 percent, snapping a
three-day losing run, and the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300
<.FTEU3> rose 1.5 percent.
                                
 World equities measured by MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> advanced 1.2 percent, extending the previous
session's 0.5 percent rise and further recovering from Monday's
1.6 percent loss.
                                
 Emerging market stocks <.MSCIEF> climbed 2 percent.
                                
 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 Asset returns in 2011:         http://r.reuters.com/zub29r
                                
 Inflation-adjusted vs. nominal gold price:
                                
                                http://r.reuters.com/ren88r
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

                                
 POSITIVE DISTRACTION
                                
 The improvement in sentiment also boosted the euro and high
yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar <AUD=D4>,
which was up 1.3 percent at $1.0658 after hitting a 29-year high
of $1.0662.
                                
 "Investor focus is on the earnings season in the U.S. and
this is key in driving growth expectations and pushing stock
markets higher. This keeps focus away from the euro zone
periphery right now," said Manuel Oliveri, currency strategist
at UBS in Zurich.
                                
 The euro <EUR=> rose 1.4 percent to $1.4538, while the
dollar <.DXY> fell 0.9 percent against a basket of currencies.
                                
 The soft dollar added to the boost for commodities, with
copper <CMCU3> up 1.6 percent and Brent crude <LCOc1> up 1.1
percent to below $123 a barrel, recovering from a 1.7 percent
drop in the previous two sessions.
                                
 Gold <XAU=> breached $1,500 an ounce for the first time and
silver hit a 31-year high.
                                
 Yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds <ES10YT=TWEB>
fell 3 basis points to 5.47 percent after Spain saw solid demand
for 10- and 13-year bonds at an auction, though speculation of
debt restructuring by Greece forced Madrid to pay higher yields
than a month ago to attract investors. [ID:nLDE73I1P8]
                                
 "The average yields (were) both a shade lower than where
they were trading in the secondary market heading into the
sale," said Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank.
                                
 "All in all, relatively reassuring results providing no
indication Spain's decoupling from the periphery is under
immediate threat. That said, the risk of contagion has certainly
not been taken off the table."
 (Additional reporting by Brian Gorman, Neal Armstrong, Kirsten
Donovan, Emelia Sithole and Simon Jessop; Graphics by Scott
Barber; Editing by Hugh Lawson)