* Euro weakens after Moody's warns on Spain credit rating
* U.S. Treasuries up but off highs, stocks mixed
* Spanish government debt up on bargain hunting
(Updates with European markets' close, adds comment)
By Daniel Bases and Alina Selyukh
NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The euro fell on Wednesday
after Moody's warned it could downgrade Spain's credit, but
investors, sniffing for a bargain, swooped in and bought the
country's sovereign bonds in a hunt for yield.
European share prices ended lower after Moody's
announcement, ending a two-week rally, while Wall Street was
little changed after early gains on upbeat U.S. economic data.
Precious metals prices came under pressure as the U.S.
dollar rose. Oil gained following an unexpectedly large drop in
U.S. inventories. For details see []
U.S. Treasuries saw their early flight-to-safety buying
momentum wane, but the 10-year benchmark note held modest gains
while the 30-year bond lost more than half a point.
Spanish government bonds reversed early losses. The 10-year
government bond yields <ES10YT=TWEB> shot up to a high of 6.43
percent before falling past Tuesday's closing level to 5.48
percent, down 7 basis points for the day.
"It's literally a question of people thinking maybe Spain
is too cheap," said Huw Worthington, a European fixed income
strategist at Barclays Capital in London. "People have maybe
cheapened it too much ahead of the auction."
Spain will hold a 10- and 15-year bond auction on
Thursday.
The euro fell to a record low against the Swiss franc of
1.2758 francs on the EBS trading platform before recouping to
1.2787 <EURCHF=EBS>, off 0.4 percent.
Against the dollar the euro fell 0.91 percent at $1.3262
<EUR=>. The greenback rose 0.49 percent to 84.04 against the
yen <JPY=>. Against major currencies the U.S. dollar was up
0.79 percent <.DXY>.
Moody's cited concerns about Spain's mounting debt and 2011
funding needs. The decision included the caveat that while the
Aa1 rating could be cut, it does not expect Madrid to have to
follow Greece and Ireland in requiring a European Union
bailout. []
U.S. economic data, including November industrial output
and consumer inflation and December New York-region
manufacturing, pointed to an accelerating pace of recovery. The
stronger data did little to deter investors from buying U.S.
government debt where a recent selloff made yields more
attractive. []
"The CPI was friendly for bonds," said David Ader, senior
government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group in Stamford,
Connecticut, referring to the Consumer Price Index.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries traded up 10/32 in price,
pushing the yield down to 3.45 percent. Buyers appeared as
yields hit a seven-month high of 3.50 percent <US10YT=RR>. The
30-year bond however was off 18/32 of a point in price,
yielding 4.57 percent <US30YT=RR>.
RELIEF IN U.S. STOCKS
U.S. stocks rose early on economic data.
"The economic numbers are giving us this upside, but I want
to see how we end today. If we roll over today, that would say
to me we're probably going to plod through to the end of the
year," said Kurt Brunner, portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group
in Philadelphia.
In midday trade, the Dow Jones industrial average <>
rose 14.27 points, or 0.12 percent, to 11,490.81. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 2.76 points, or 0.22 percent, at
1,238.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> lost 1.61 points,
or 0.06 percent, at 2,626.11.
However, the Moody's report on Spain cramped the style of
European investors.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed down 0.46 percent at 1,127.25. The index was up over 6
percent in the 10 days leading into the announcement on Spain.
Spain's Banco Santander fell 2.64 percent <SAN.MC>.
Share prices in Japan slipped from Tuesday's seven-month
closing high. The benchmark Nikkei stock index fell 0.07
percent <>.
The price of crude oil rose after a government report
showed oil inventories fell much more than expected last week.
Crude for January delivery rose 16 cents a barrel to $88.44, up
0.22 percent on the day.
Spot gold prices fell $10.75 to $1,385.10 <XAU=>.
(Additional reporting by Emily Flitter, Angela Moon, Gertrude
Chavez-Dreyfus, Ellen Freilich, Jeremy Gaunt, Blaise Robinson;
Editing by Kenneth Barry)
