U.S. stocks rebound from rout, dollar rises

Marc Jones and Richard Leong

By Marc Jones and Richard Leong LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stock prices rose on Tuesday, helping world shares steady after they hit a near four-month low, while the yen and U.S. and German government debt prices fell as jitters over emerging markets retreated. Renewed bids for U.S. equities bolstered the dollar and oil and pared demand for gold. Monday's sharp decline on weaker-than-expected U.S. data, concerns over growth in China and the outlook for some emerging economies, opened the door for traders looking for bargains, analysts said. "Yesterday was really the first concerted selloff, indiscriminate as to individual stocks," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey. "With that type of selling going on, this morning you're seeing some bargain-hunters looking for oversold opportunities." After the previous session's pounding, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 86.28 points, or 0.56 percent, at 15,459.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 13.87 points, or 0.80 percent, at 1,755.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 40.08 points, or 1.00 percent, at 4,037.04. The bounce in U.S. equities pulled MSCI's world index from its lowest level since October, set earlier as Japan's Nikkei recorded a 4 percent drop. The measure of shares in 45 countries was last down 0.15 percent at 385.09. Europe's top shares provisionally closed down 0.17 percent at 1,270.74 after falling as much as 0.68 percent. U.S. factory orders released shortly after the Wall Street open bolstered the fragile mood. Nevertheless, there remained plenty to keep traders on edge. "This emerging (market) crisis does matter if it worsens because it will have an impact on global growth," said Daniel McCormack, a strategist at Macquarie in London. Emerging market stocks also pared losses but were still down sharply for a second day, while hard-hit currencies including Turkey's lira, Russia's rouble, Hungary's forint and the South African rand all moved away from their recent lows. Given a pause in the selloff in emerging markets, the dollar improved slightly against major currencies, bouncing back from a more than two-month low of 100.74 yen earlier. The dollar index was up 0.15 percent at 81.13, retracing part of the 0.37 percent drop on Monday. The greenback rose 0.65 percent versus the yen at 101.64 yen. Reduced safe-haven bids bogged down U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds. Benchmark 10-year U.S. government debt fell 11/32 in price to yield 2.6221 percent after hitting a three-month low late Monday. German Bund futures fell 12 basis points to 143.90. Gold gave back some of Monday's safe-haven gains and last traded down 0.4 percent at $1,251.51 an ounce. In other commodities, oil prices in London fell on worries about weakening demand in the wake of recent disappointing U.S. and Chinese economic data. Brent crude last traded 23 cents lower at $105.81 a barrel. U.S. oil futures, on the other hand, rose on bets on a reduced stockpile at a key delivery point due to the start-up of a major pipeline. The February NYMEX contract rose 78 cents to $97.21 a barrel. TEN-PERCENT CORRECTION? The stock market gyrations caused the VIX, the market's fear seismograph, to jump to its highest since June. The Nikkei's 4 percent dive meant it has now shed 14 percent of last year's 50 percent boom. By comparison, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 is down 5.8 percent and the FTSEurofirst 300 has dropped 3.3 percent. "With the main European indexes down around 7 percent (since peaks), chatter on trading desk is about whether we are in for a '10 percent' correction," Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at Capital Spreads in London, said in emailed comments. U.S. factory orders http://link.reuters.com/pyb56t U.S. durable goods http://link.reuters.com/baf65v Asset returns last 12 months http://link.reuters.com/huq75s EM 2014 FX performance http://link.reuters.com/jus35t Currencies v dollar http://link.reuters.com/tak27s Yen vs Nikkei http://link.reuters.com/cuz62v (Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York and; Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Catherine Evans and Dan Grebler)