Risk appetite grows; world stocks, dollar gain

By Walter Brandimarte and Vivianne Rodrigues

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks and the U.S. dollar gained on Thursday as investors looked beyond dire U.S. economic data for signs of recovery in the world economy.

U.S. crude oil prices rose to nearly four-month highs, boosting emerging-market assets, on expectations that government efforts to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial system might be working.

U.S. Treasury prices also rose after five sessions, benefited from a decent debt auction and expectations related to the Federal Reserve's purchases of government bonds.

A downward revision in the U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product, as well as a record-high number of weekly jobless claims, did not surprise economists, and were actually seen as a sign that the world's largest economy is bottoming.

"Obviously the tide is shifting. We've gone from every piece of news being incrementally bad to not as bad as expectations," said Stephanie Giroux, Chief Investment Strategist at TD Ameritrade in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 174.75 points, or 2.25 percent, to 7,924.56, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 18.98 points, or 2.33 percent, at 832.86. Shares of retailers rose after electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY.N) reported results and outlook which topped market expectations.

The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 58.05 points, or 3.80 percent, at 1,587.00 -- turning positive for the year-to-date.

The MSCI World index .MIWD00000PUS, a gauge of global stocks performance, rose 1.41 percent to its highest level in more than six weeks. The MSCI stock index for emerging markets .MSCIEF gained 2.11 percent.

Stock markets have been in a buoyant mood this week following a U.S. plan to persuade private firms to help rid banks of up to $1 trillion in toxic assets.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday outlined new "rules of the game" in shaping regulatory reform designed to curb risk-taking on Wall Street in a bid to restrain the type of behavior that led to the current credit crisis.

Demand for U.S. Treasuries also rose in a $24 billion auction of seven-year notes, allowing the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note to rise 15/32, with the yield at 2.7426 percent.

RISING APPETITE FOR RISK

The U.S. dollar and the euro rebounded against the yen as investors grew more comfortable buying risky assets such as stocks and commodities, dampening the Japanese currency's safe-haven appeal.

The dollar strengthened against a basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index .DXY up 0.57 percent at 84.176.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 1.23 percent to 98.78. The euro weakened 0.51 percent against the greenback at $1.3513.