* U.S., European stocks rise on data, Bernanke
* Oil pulls back from 10-month high on profit-taking
* Dollar edges lower on upbeat U.S. data, Bernanke news
* Bonds fall on higher stocks, encouraging data (Updates with U.S. markets activity, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - World stocks surged to 10-month highs on Tuesday after upbeat U.S. economic data and Ben Bernanke's renomination as Federal Reserve chief spurred optimism, but increased risk-taking weakened the U.S. dollar.
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell as the renewed gains on Wall Street and data on U.S. home prices and consumer confidence reduced a safety bid for bonds. <For related news click []>.
Crude oil, which has been tracking the months-long rise in equities, fell after dealers took profits from a rally earlier in the day to 10-month highs. [].
MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>, among other major U.S. and European indexes, set new 10-month highs. The MSCI index gained 0.2 percent.
Investors cheered a report that showed consumer confidence increased more than expected in August, while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose in June rose for a second straight month.
Rebounding home prices, as well as stronger consumer spending, are seen as critical for the U.S. economy to bounce back from its worst recession since the Great Depression.
"These numbers are definitely reassuring, though I'm more focused on the housing data. Still, the consumer confidence is like gravy today," said Melvin Harris, market strategist, at Advanced Currency Markets in New York.
"We're not in full-blown recovery mode yet but we are seeing more normalized markets. Consumer numbers are important numbers -- they are an indicator of what people are willing to spend and that matters for GDP growth."
Financial shares were among the top gainers, with the S&P financial index <.GSPF> rising 1.6 percent.
About 1 p.m. (1700 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 88.27 points, or 0.93 percent, at 9,597.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 9.69 points, or 0.94 percent, at 1,035.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 18.30 points, or 0.91 percent, at 2,036.28.
In Europe, regional shares hit their highest closing since October on the U.S. data, with energy companies and banks rebounding from earlier losses.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top shares closed up 0.4 percent at 978.76.
"Overall, stocks have had a nice rally. They're sporting new recovery highs and are trading 53 percent above their lows," said Steve Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co in Greenwich, Connecticut.
"In another time, this data maybe would've helped, but now it's not helping so much since we've had such gains over the past four or five weeks."
After shooting up in early trade following the U.S. data, prices eased.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> slipped 53 cents to $73.84 a barrel, down from a peak of $75. Brent crude <LCOc1> dropped 83 cents to $73.43 a barrel.
Copper fell as investors retreated on mounting worries that recent price gains may have been overdone and on concern about slowing Chinese demand. []
The euro <EUR=> rose 0.2 percent for the day to $1.4326. The ICE Futures' dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of the dollar's value against six major currencies, slipped 0.2 percent to 78.124.
Nagging doubts over the strength of a global recovery, together with mortgage-related hedging, mitigated early losses in U.S. bonds, analysts said.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 11/32 in price to yield 3.52 percent.
Euro zone government bonds held their ground in the face of renewed strength in global stocks as bond investors largely shrugged of the U.S. economic data. []
A string of dovish comments from European Central Bank officials has helped underpin the bond market despite gains in equities, traders said.
Steve Barrow, analyst at Standard Bank, said chances are the European Central Bank will cut interest rates again.
"The point for me, and as ECB member after ECB member have said, their focus is inflation and I feel that inflation is going to stay very low indeed and the ECB is going to respond to that," Barrow said.
Gold extended gains as the dollar weakened. U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> rose $5.80 to $949.40 in New York/
Asian shares and commodities slipped in a partial reversal of the previous day's solid gains. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> dropped 1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei average <> shed 0.8 percent. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Richard Leong in New York; Ikuko Kurahone, Ian Chua and Joanne Frearson in London; writing by Herbert Lash)
