Global stocks rise as Draghi fuels stimulus hopes, euro slumps

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock indexes rose and the euro slumped below $1.28 on Wednesday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy loose for an extended period.

U.S. stocks ended solidly higher, with the S&P 500 index posting its biggest one-day advance in more than a month. An emerging markets stock index also rose, breaking a run of recent declines.

Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy accommodative for as long as it takes to push ultra-low inflation in the euro zone closer to 2 percent.

Also helping equities, a top Federal Reserve official said the Fed should be "exceptionally patient" in removing monetary policy accommodation.

Investors have been rattled by this week's worse-than-expected economic data from euro zone countries.

There was more bad news on Wednesday, with German business sentiment dropping for a fifth straight month in September to its lowest since April 2013 and the Bank of Spain warning that Spanish private consumption growth and job creation were likely to have slowed in the third quarter.

Despite the weak European data, MSCI's global share index was up 0.4 percent, while European shares ended up 0.8 percent.

The MSCI emerging stocks index edged up 0.2 percent, only its second daily gain in 15 sessions.

U.S. equities resumed their climb. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 154.19 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,210.06, the S&P 500 gained 15.53 points, or 0.78 percent, to 1,998.3 and the Nasdaq Composite added 46.53 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,555.22.

"This is a market that continues to attract capital from other asset classes, because where else can investors go for yield?" said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

Also helping U.S. stocks was a strong report on the housing market.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro traded as low as $1.277 against the dollar, a 14-month low, and was last off 0.5 percent.

U.S. benchmark Treasuries yields were higher for the first time in five sessions after weak demand at a five-year note auction underscored concern about Fed rate hikes.

U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were last down 9/32 in price to yield 2.57 percent, from a yield of 2.53 percent late Tuesday.

Oil settled higher after shrugging off early losses. A report showed an unexpected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.

Brent crude for November delivery rose 10 cents to settle at $96.95 a barrel. It is down more than 6 percent for the month so far. U.S. crude rose $1.24 to settle at $92.80.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Dan Grebler, Toby Chopra and James Dalgleish)