* Stocks rise on upbeat U.S., European corporate earnings
* Australian dollar hits post-float high vs dollar
* Gold touches an all-time high above $1,500/ounce
(Updates prices)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Upbeat earnings and outlooks
from companies including chipmaker Intel lifted global stocks
and fueled risk appetite on Wednesday, driving commodities
higher and the Australian dollar to a post-float high.
Solid corporate earnings in the U.S. and Europe bolstered
optimism about the economy and offset concerns of sovereign
debt problems on both sides of the Atlantic after Standard &
Poor's on Monday downwardly revised its outlook for the United
States' prized AAA credit rating.
"It seemed like the earnings season got off to a bit of a
shaky start, but now companies are coming through with very
strong results, by and large," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford
Hills, New York.
"This really shows that corporations are delivering strong
results and benefiting from the slow but steady economic
improvement."
World equities measured by MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> advanced 2 percent, extending the previous
session's 0.5 percent rise and further recovering from Monday's
1.6 percent loss.
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.
Major U.S. stock indexes soared. The Dow Jones industrial
average <> was up 184.90 points, or 1.51 percent, at
12,452.29. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 18.16
points, or 1.38 percent, at 1,330.78. The Nasdaq Composite
Index <> was up 55.91 points, or 2.04 percent, at
2,801.08.
Japan's Nikkei average <> rose 1.8 percent, snapping a
three-day losing run, and the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300
<> rose 1.8 percent. Emerging market stocks <.MSCIEF>
climbed 2.4 percent.
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Asset returns in 2011:http://r.reuters.com/zub29r
Inflation-adjusted vs. nominal gold price:
http://r.reuters.com/ren88r
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Societe Generale, however, 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 <>, though they were
net long on Japanese equities.
SPANISH BOND AUCTION
An increase in risk sentiment, along with a well-received
bond auction from Spain boosted the euro to its highest in 15
months against the U.S. dollar.
The euro rose 1.2 percent versus the dollar to $1.4515
<EUR=>, pulling further away from this week's low of around
$1.4155. Traders said stop-losses were triggered through last
week's high of $1.4521 and on the break of $1.4530.
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.
[]
"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.
Higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar
<AUD=D4> rose 1.5 percent at $1.0678 after hitting a post-float
high of $1.0692.
Against a basket of currencies <.DXY>, the U.S. dollar fell
0.7 percent to 74.370.
The soft dollar boosted commodities, with copper <CMCU3> up
2 percent and Brent crude <LCOc1> 1.1 percent to above $122 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. Concerns about government debt
problems, inflation and turmoil in the Middle East also helped
boost gold prices.
(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Nick
Olivari in New York, Dominic Lau, Brian Gorman, Neal Armstrong,
Kirsten Donovan, Emelia Sithole and Simon Jessop in London;
Graphics by Scott Barber)
(Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
