* Stocks gain, U.S. Treasuries fall on economic data
* Rise in U.S. equities reverses Europe stocks' losses
* Oil up in anticipation of rising energy demand
By Chris Reese
NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Stocks rose and U.S.
government bonds fell on Thursday on stronger-than-expected
U.S. jobless claims data and a sign of improving business
conditions, which helped European stocks recover from losses.
The data, seen as a sign the U.S. recession might be
reaching bottom, pushed the U.S. dollar down against the euro.
In the darkest days of the economic crisis, the dollar rallied
in safe-haven buying, but recent signs of recovery have tended
to reverse those flows.
Oil prices rose in choppy trade as the data raised hopes
for economic recovery and an increase in demand for energy.
The government reports showed the number of people staying
on U.S. jobless benefits after collecting an initial week of
aid fell for the first time since January, while manufacturing
in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic area contracted in June much less
severely than expected. For details see [].
"We received a solid round of U.S. economic reports for the
day," said Michael Englund, chief economist at Action Economics
in Boulder, Colorado.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 72.63
points, or 0.85 percent, to 8,569.81. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> rose 8.54 points, or 0.94 percent, to 919.25. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 3.66 points, or 0.20
percent, to 1,811.72.
A lack of safe-haven bidding hit U.S. Treasuries, with the
benchmark 10-year note <US10YT=RR> trading 1-3/32 lower in
price for a yield of 3.83 percent, up from 3.70 percent late on
Wednesday. []
Adding to the selling in Treasuries were worries over
pending government debt supply. The Treasury on Thursday said
it will sell $104 billion of notes next week, which will be a
record sale of coupons in one week.
"That is going to be troublesome next week, and that could
cause some selling pressure," said John Canavan, market
strategist at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in
Princeton, New Jersey.
The rise in U.S. equities, in turn, helped European stocks
stage a recovery from early losses. The FTSEurofirst 300
<> index of top European shares rose 0.57 percent to
850.62 points. The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS>
gained 0.61 percent to 243.31.
UK data showed retail sales fell unexpectedly in May,
tempering recent optimism about the global economy. Britain's
factory orders fell slightly more than expected in June, with
export orders recording their biggest drop in more than a
decade.
The euro rose by 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.3970
<EUR=>, while against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was up 0.70
percent at 96.35.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> rose 0.3 percent to $71.33 a barrel.
In Asia, Chinese stocks posted their highest close in
nearly 11 months, led by coal and financial shares as optimism
grew for prospects for economic recovery.
The World Bank in its quarterly update on China raised its
forecast for economic growth this year to 7.2 percent from 6.5
percent projected in March, although that remains below the
official target of 8 percent.
(Additional reporting by Natsuko Waki in London: )
