* S&P 500, Nasdaq rise on Microsoft, economy optimism
* U.S. dollar slips as recovery hopes lift risk appetite
* Government bonds rise on bargain-hunting before weekend
* Crude oil reverses course, falls on gasoline sell-off
(Adds close of U.S. markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose and the
U.S. dollar fell on on Friday after upbeat U.S. data this week
boosted hopes that a global recession was touching bottom.
Oil prices, after an initial rise, fell to below $70 a
barrel on a sell-off in the U.S. gasoline market as dealers bet
there would be ample fuel supply to meet U.S. summer demand.
Moves in foreign exchange were limited, with investors wary
ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting next week and as
another record sale, about $104 billion, of U.S. government
debt loomed.
Investors wonder if Fed policy-makers will hint about the
fate of the U.S. Treasury's debt buying program.
Trading in Treasury debt was light, making the market
choppy, traders and analysts said. And there was little
economic news worldwide.
But the International Monetary Fund is likely to revise its
2010 growth forecast for the world up, an IMF top official said
at a Turkish business conference.
John Lipsky, the IMF's first deputy managing director,
warned, however, that it was far too early to declare victory,
with financial conditions far from normal and the world economy
still in recession. []
"Sustaining gains through the quiet summer months will
likely be another separate challenge markets need to address,"
said Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets.
"But to be finishing this week with a rising -- rather than
falling -- market may again be reason to add a little more
confidence to the equation," Yates added.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> closed down 15.87
points, or 0.19 percent, at 8,539.73. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> was up 2.86 points, or 0.31 percent, at 921.23.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 19.75 points, or 1.09
percent, at 1,827.47.
U.S. equity markets were buffeted by the end of the two-day
quadruple witching period, when the expiration and settlement
of June stock, index futures and options can boost volatility.
Microsoft <MSFT.O> rose 2.4 percent, lifting technology
shares, after Goldman Sachs added the software company to its
Americas "conviction buy" list. See []
Microsoft was a top gainer in both the Dow industrials and
the Nasdaq. The S&P information technology sector <.GSPT> rose
1.2 percent.
In Europe, banks and commodity stocks led the market
higher.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European
companies closed 1.3 percent higher at 861.63 points.
The index, however, lost 2.7 percent this week -- the
second weekly loss since early March.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rebounded from early losses on
bargain-hunting and as mortgage-related selling tapered off
before the weekend. Bonds had initially traded lower as gains
in Wall Street stocks and concerns about next week's debt
auction curbed safe-haven appetite for U.S. government debt.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up
7/32 in price to yield 3.78 percent. The 2-year U.S. Treasury
note <US2YT=RR> was up 2/32 in price to yield 1.21 percent.
The dollar was down against a basket of major currencies,
with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> off 0.35 percent at 80.287.
The euro <EUR=> was up 0.33 percent at $1.3949. Against the
yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.41 percent at 96.19.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell $1.82 to settle at $69.55 a barrel.
Gasoline futures <RBc1> fell 10.51 cents, or 5.18 percent, to
$1.9244 a gallon. Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.87 to settle at
$69.19 a barrel.
Gold futures ended a tad higher, but tame inflation and the
dollar's recent strength could limit the metal to a narrow
trading range ahead of the Fed's meeting on June 23-24.
U.S. August gold futures settled up $1.60 at $936.20 an
ounce in New York.
Asian stocks snapped a four-day slide, with the MSCI index
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> edged up
1.0 percent.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr, Richard Valdmanis, Wanfeng Zhou,
Richard Leong and Frank Tang in New York; Dominic Lau, Farah
Master and Jon Hopkins in London; writing by Herbert Lash;
Editing by Leslie Adler)
