* U.S. pending homes sales near two-year high in March
* Euro zone sentiment weaker than expected
* Disappointing U.S. jobs data limit gains
By Luciana Lopez
NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) – Global stocks and the euro
edged higher on Thursday as solid U.S. home sales buoyed
optimism, although disappointing data on the U.S. labor market
and European sentiment kept trading choppy.
Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes gained to
a near two-year high in March, offering hopes of a pick-up in
housing.
The data boosted riskier assets such as equities and the
euro, which advanced against the dollar.
“In any case, progress on the housing market is going to be
slow and gradual,” said ING’s Teunis Brosens. “The pick-up in
sales over the past few months appears to be at least partly
driven by all-cash buyers.”
The pending home sales data is an important clue to existing
home sales, Brosens added. “Slowly but surely, the U.S. housing
market is climbing out of the abyss.”
Equities had dipped early in the session after data showed
an underlying trend for U.S. joblessness rising, fueling fears
that the U.S. labor market could struggle for some time.
The euro also changed course several times early in the
North American session, alternately weighed down by
weaker-than-expected euro zone sentiment data and boosted by the
stronger U.S. housing market.
“This choppiness and the back and forth have been very
characteristic of the past several weeks already,” said
Vassili Serebriakov, senior currency strategist with Wells Fargo
in New York.
Also lending support to riskier assets was Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke’s statement on Wednesday that the U.S.
central bank would not hesitate to launch another round of bond
purchases if the economy were to weaken.
“Unexpectedly high claims, along with an upward revision for
the second week in a row, are especially noteworthy after
Bernanke’s final statement in yesterday’s press conference, when
he said the employment data will be the most important
determinant of Fed policy,” said Christopher Low, chief
economist at FTN Financial in New York.
The euro rose slightly against the dollar, up 0.11 percent
to $1.3237. But the single currency and the dollar both
fell against the yen. The euro shed 0.38 percent to 106.99 yen
and the dollar gave up 0.57 percent to 80.80 yen
.
“The pending home sales probably did play a hand in muting
some of the negativity from high joblessness and low consumer
confidence,” said Alexander Chepurko, a foreign exchange analyst
at Forex Club in New York.
“But mostly it’s a weakening U.S. dollar that’s giving the
euro/dollar help, after yesterday’s Fed proclamation that they
are prepared to take additional easing steps even in the face of
slightly positive growth,” Chepurko said.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 73.11 points,
or 0.56 percent, to 13,163.83. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
gained 4.23 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,394.92. The
Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.51 points, or 0.31
percent, to 3,039.14.
European shares closed little changed on Thursday, pausing
after a two-session rally. Worse-than-expected results by
Germany’s biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, weighed on
euro zone banks, which were also hit by the sentiment
data.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 ended the day up
0.17 percent to 1,044.31.
The MSCI world equity index rose 0.43
percent, trading near the top of its range for the session.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up
4/32 in price, with the yield at 1.96 percent.
Brent crude futures traded higher, near $120 a barrel, as
Wall Street equities and oil received a boost from the housing
data.
Brent June crude rose 0.7 percent to $119.95 per
barrel.
