World stocks rebound as U.S. resumes growth

An investor walks with his son in front of a screen showing stock information at a brokerage house in the financial district of Beijing October 29, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stocks recovered from three-week lows on Thursday after U.S. gross domestic product data showed the world's biggest economy returned to growth last quarter following the worst recession in seven decades.

The data, showing annualized growth of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with a forecast for 3.3 percent. Some strategists and traders were surprised as they had been downgrading their outlook after disappointing data in recent days.

"The market was beginning to price in a weaker outlook, but today's GDP report was good across the entire spectrum," said John Spinello, chief Treasury strategist at Jefferies & Co in New York.

For their part, top investors around the world rebuilt equity holdings during a shaky October for stock markets on the view that the economy would not fall back into recession given accommodative central bank policies.

The MSCI world index .MIWD00000PUS turned positive after the data, rebounding from three-week lows on Wednesday, the index's biggest one-day selloff since August. After 1 p.m., the index was up about 1.40 percent.

U.S. equities also rallied. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 151.07 points, or 1.55 percent, at 9,913.76, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 18.00 points, or 1.73 percent, at 1,060.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 33.47 points, or 1.63 percent, at 2,093.08.

In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 jumped 1.77 percent, having fallen around 0.2 percent earlier.

Emerging stocks .MSCIEF, which had suffered heavily from this week's global markets shakeout and retreat from risk, recovered from early losses to trade up 0.52 percent

In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude oil rose $2.75, or 3.55 percent, to $80.21 per barrel, while spot gold prices rose $17.75, or 1.73 percent, to $1044.60.

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index .CRB was up 6.11 points, or 2.26 percent, at 276.50.

BONDS VOYAGE

U.S. Treasury debt prices fell as the U.S. GDP figures suggested the economy would emerge from recession faster and as stocks advanced.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 24/32, with the yield at 3.503 percent, while the 2-year U.S. Treasury note was down 4/32, with the yield at 0.996 percent.

At the longer end of the yield curve, the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond was down 47/32, with the yield at 4.3445 percent.

In addition, the dollar was down against a basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index .DXY down 0.67 percent at 75.915 from a previous session close of 76.425.

The euro was up 0.88 percent at $1.4838 from a previous session close of $1.4709. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was up 0.84 percent at 91.38 from a previous session close of 90.620.

(Additional reporting by Natsuko Waki; Editing by Kenneth Barry)