* Euro stocks, bonds rally after ECB offers 1-yr funds
* Dollar jumps before Fed and SNB seen selling francs
* Wall Street rises, buoyed by US data, Oracle results
* Emerging markets <.MSCIEF> outperform
By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Global stocks, bonds and the
dollar rose on Wednesday after the European Central Bank lent
banks nearly half a trillion euros in a first ever one-year
tender and the Swiss National Bank was seen selling Swiss
francs.
A stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. durable goods
orders added to the upbeat tone in Wall Street and an auction
of five-year notes by the U.S. Treasury went smoothly.
In addition, a report showed sales of U.S. new
single-family homes slipped slightly last month, but the median
sales price rose and was the highest since December. For
details, see [] []
In a move that pushed euro interest rates lower, the ECB
lent 442.241 billion euros ($612.8 billion) in a 371-day
operation at a fixed 1.00 percent -- well above the 300 billion
forecast in a Reuters poll. []
"This is a very supportive feature for the day," said Mike
Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin, in London. "It suggests
that there is money going into the economy, and that is exactly
what the central banks want to do to reflate the global
economy."
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose almost 2
percent after hitting its lowest since May 18 on Tuesday on
concern over the global economy.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed higher, up 2.4 percent at 853.56 points. The
index had lost 3.2 percent in the previous two sessions.
Banks added the most points to the index, with Barclays
<BARC.L> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> up more than four percent
each on the day.
Euro zone interest rate futures rose and shorter-dated
government bond yields hit session lows, steepening the yield
curve after the ECB tender.
In the United States, tech shares led stocks higher after
the surprisingly strong durable goods orders and
better-than-expected quarterly results from software maker
Oracle Corp <ORCL.O>.
"The economic Armageddon that we were facing three months
ago has moved out of the realm of possibility," said Todd
Clark, managing director of stock trading at Nollenberger
Capital Partners in San Francisco.
In early afternoon trading in New York, The Dow Jones
industrial average <> was 1.1 percent higher at 8,416.39.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 1.6 percent to
909.72 and The Nasdaq Composite Index <> advanced 2.25
percent to 1,804.57.
SNB INTERVENTION, FED MEETING
On the volatile foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar
jumped 3 percent against the Swiss franc <CHF=> after traders
reported the Swiss National Bank was intervening in the market
by selling the Swiss currency for dollars and euros. The SNB
declined to comment.
The SNB has pledged to intervene to cap gains in the franc
as part of its efforts to stimulate the Swiss economy with near
zero interest rates.
Although the SNB declined to comment, traders said the bank
was selling francs in significant amounts, with some saying the
sales were conducted through the Basel-based Bank for
International Settlements.
"It appears they (the SNB) have stepped up the
aggressiveness of their intervention," said Marc Chandler,
chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New
York.
But speculation about the outcome of the U.S. Federal
Reserve's policy-making Open Market Committee this afternoon
has kept trading erratic.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep interest
rates on hold at a record low and keep its planned debt
purchases unchanged.
The focus is on whether the Fed tweaks its statement to
rein in a slide in U.S. Treasuries that has threatened the
economy's budding recovery. []
"It has been a roller-coaster ride in the U.S. dollar this
morning," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT
Forex in New York. "Everyone is going to be focused on the FOMC
rate decision and how much the central bank talks about exit
strategies."
Benchmark Treasury yields surged to an eight-month peak
above 4 percent earlier this month, pushing up mortgage rates
and offsetting the Fed's efforts to help the economy by buying
hefty amounts of government and mortgage-related debt.
A five-year U.S. Treasury note auction totaling $37 billion
on Wednesday was strong and generated solid demand.
Shorter-dated Treasury notes turned positive after the auction.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was up 1/32,
yielding 3.62 percent. Before the sale it was down 4/32.
Oil slid back about 1 percent to below $69 a barrel <CLc1>,
following a 2.6 percent gain in the previous session.
(Additional reporting by Mike Dolan in London, Wanfeng Zhou
and Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
