* Progress at Japan nuclear plants lifts risk appetite
* Deutsche Telekom soars on proposed deal with AT&T
* Oil up after Western forces strike Libya again
* Euro touches $1.42 on rate hike expectations
(Updates prices, changes quotes)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - Stocks rose across the globe
on Monday as risk appetite returned following progress in
resolving Japan's nuclear crisis while the yen slid on
speculation of more central bank intervention.
Oil prices rose but were off the session's highs after
Western forces launched a second wave of air strikes on Libya.
U.S. stocks rose more than 1.5 percent as investors
welcomed AT&T's <T.N> proposal to buy T-Mobile USA from
Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion, which would be the world's
biggest deal this year and Germany's biggest in a decade.
Deutsche Telekom AG <DTEGn.DE> shares soared more than 13
percent.
"The fact that companies are confident to do big deals gets
people thinking that the environment may not be too bad, that
there is liquidity out there in the market. It opens doors for
other, larger M&A deals," said John Canally, investment
strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.
The gains in U.S. stocks follow a second straight week of
losses over concern about unrest in oil-producing northern
Africa and the Middle East. Japan's earthquake and tsunami and
the ensuing nuclear crisis deepened investors' concerns about
the global economy's ability to continue its recovery.
"More incrementally positive news from Japan in terms of
the nuclear situation is helping the market," Canally said.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares was up 1.6 percent at 1455 GMT and the MSCI world share
index <.MIWD00000PUS> jumped 1.4 percent, its largest daily
gain in seven weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 188.87
points, or 1.59 percent, to 12,047.39. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> climbed 19.06 points, or 1.49 percent, to
1,298.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> rose 50.14 points,
or 1.90 percent, to 2,693.81.
Engineers rigged power cables to all six reactors at
Japan's Fukushima complex and started a water pump at one of
them to reverse the overheating that has triggered the world's
worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. For details, see
[]
Japan's markets were closed for a holiday on Monday but the
MSCI index of Asian stocks outside of Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS>
rose 1.4 percent.
The yen added to losses, with speculators wary of more
coordinated action by the Group of Seven countries. The dollar
rose 0.5 percent for the day to 81.13 yen <JPY=>, after joint
G7 intervention last week hoisted the greenback nearly 4
percent versus the Japanese currency.
The G7 acted after the yen jumped to a post-World War Two
record high of 76.25 yen to the dollar last Thursday. More is
expected to come if it climbs again.
The euro briefly rose above $1.42 against the U.S. dollar
for the first time since November before trading near
break-even, as markets braced for a euro zone interest rate
hike as soon as next month.
Brent crude for May <LCOc1> was up more than $1 at $115 a
barrel by 1450 GMT after the U.N.-mandated attacks on Libya
aimed at protecting civilians caught up in a revolt against
Muammar Gaddafi. []
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Libya Graphics
http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
Japan disaster in figures
http://r.reuters.com/ser58r
Japan disaster Top News page
[]
Picture, graphic packages:
http://r.reuters.com/wyb58r
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Brent crude prices have risen nearly 22 percent this
quarter and the social unrest in North Africa and the
oil-producing Gulf provide enough uncertainty to keep prices
buoyed.
"The key is really how Saudi (Arabia) and Iran play out.
Cool heads need to prevail. It's contained at the moment, but
if things worsen, you see a Mideast premium very quickly," said
Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking
Services.
U.S. Treasuries prices extended losses after the Treasury
said it will begin to sell $142 billion of its
agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities.
Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> were last down 21/32 in
price to yield 3.34 percent, up from 3.28 percent late on
Friday.
* For Reuters Global Investing Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting
* For the MacroScope Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope
* For Hedge Fund Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub
(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou, Angela Moon, Karen
Brettell, Ian Chua, Joanne Frearson, Blaise Robinson, Alejandro
Barbajosa and Anirban Nag; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
