* U.S., European shares rally following China data
* BP shares get reprieve in U.S. trading
* Spain bonds get strong demand, aiding euro
(Updates to U.S. markets, changes byline, dateline, previous
London)
By Al Yoon and Jeremy Gaunt
NEW YORK/LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - World stocks climbed
on Thursday with Wall Street rallying and the euro rising after
China reported solid export data and Spain successfully tapped
bond markets, easing European debt concerns.
The European Central Bank and Bank of England both kept
interest rates unchanged, as expected.
China confirmed that exports jumped 50 percent in May from
a year ago, reassuring investors about the global economy in
the face of the euro-zone debt crisis. Europe is China's
biggest overseas market. For details, see []
In the United States, a moderate economic recovery appeared
underway as the trade deficit widened slightly in April and the
number of U.S. workers filing new unemployment claims fell,
albeit less than expected. []
"The reaction to the China data was a fairly nice bounce in
the euro overnight," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist
at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. That led to a
movement up in European stocks that spilled over to the United
States, he said.
U.S, stocks have been closely tied to the movement in the
euro as investors use the currency as a barometer for
confidence in the euro-zone economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 205.07
points, or 2.07 percent, to 10,104.32. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 20.74 points, or 1.96 percent, to
1,076.43 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <> climbed 37.23
points, or 1.72 percent, to 2,196.08.
European shares shrugged off losses after the rise in
Chinese exports, which ran counter to persistent fears the
global economy was faltering.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> rose 1.4 percent, extending
gains as New York trading began. Asian stocks also gained, with
Japan's Nikkei <> ending up 1.1 percent.
MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> and the
Thomson Reuters Equity Global Index <.TRXFLDGLPU> both rose
about 1.8 percent.
U.S.-traded shares of oil company BP Plc <BP.N> rebounded
more than 10 percent, a day after plunging nearly 16 percent on
mounting fears about how the company will cope with the massive
costs of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company's London shares <BP.L> were down 6.1 percent to
367.7 pence, hitting their lowest level since 1997 as they
caught up to the losses in the United States that occurred
after the UK markets closed on Wednesday. See graphic on London
vs U.S. shares: http://r.reuters.com/tug39k
Several analysts said the sell-off in BP was not justified
because the company still has ample cash reserves to cover the
clean-up costs of the spill but that political pressure had
created uncertainty in the markets.
"It's tough to make price predictions on the stock, but I
think the downside risks are outweighed by the near-term upside
potential," said Mike Breard, analyst with Hodges Capital
Management in Dallas.
FIRMING EURO
The euro, drubbed in recent days on concern that investors
may balk at funding debt-laden European nations, rose after
signs of strong demand at a Spanish bond auction. The currency
hit its high for the day as the European Central Bank said its
government bond purchase program should not be viewed as a
change to monetary policy.
The euro <EUR=> rose 0.96 percent at $1.21 from a previous
session close of $1.1985.
The dollar declined against a basket of major
trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY>
falling 0.82 percent to 87.177. The dollar <JPY=> rose 0.05
percent to 91.31 yen.
Europe's common currency got an earlier boost after Dai
Xianglong, chairman of $114 billion China's National Social
Security Fund, said the euro would gradually stabilize and that
the U.S. fiscal deficit remained a big concern, tempering
safe-haven demand for the dollar. []
There have been some concerns in currency markets that the
debt crisis would persuade central banks, including China's, to
cut back on their euro reserves.
U.S. Treasuries fell as signs of improvement in weekly U.S.
jobless insurance claims added fuel to a sell-off ahead of a
30-year bond auction. Benchmark 10-year note yields <US10YT=RR>
rose to 3.26 percent.
In energy and commodities, U.S. light sweet crude oil
<CLc1> rose $1.47, or 1.98 percent, to $75.85 per barrel, and
spot gold <XAU=> fell $11.65, or 0.95 percent, to $1,218.70 an
ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Matt Daily in
New York and Joanne Frearson in London; Editing by Padraic
Cassidy)
