Shares rally on earnings, data; bond prices slip

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets rallied and bond prices eased on Tuesday on solid corporate earnings on both sides of the Atlantic and an upbeat U.S. consumer confidence report that more than made up for weak American housing and industrial data.

Outside of equities, market moves were muted on the first day of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting in which the U.S. central bank will likely reinforce its stated willingness to wait a long while before hiking interest rates.

The Fed is also expected to announce on Wednesday the end of its massive bond-buying stimulus, known as quantitative easing.

The dollar index pared losses after the Conference Board reported U.S. consumer confidence was at its highest in seven years in October, reducing worries over disappointing data on domestic home prices and durable goods orders.

MSCI's all-country world index and major U.S. stock indexes surged more than 1 percent on the consumer sentiment report and data showing U.S. corporate earnings are beating expectations at a higher rate than in recent quarters.

With 245 companies in the S&P 500 having reported earnings so far for the third quarter, 73.5 percent have beat analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. Over the past four quarters, 67 percent of companies have beat estimates.

In Europe about a quarter of companies listed on the STOXX Europe 600 benchmark have reported results so far, with 66 percent beating profit forecasts, Thomson Reuters data show.

"Corporate earnings continue to surprise and that has been the wind in the sails of this rebound," said King Lip, chief investment officer at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.

MSCI's index of equity performance in 45 countries rose 1.1 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading companies closed up 0.92 percent at 1,317.09.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 187.81 points, or 1.12 percent, to 17,005.75. The S&P 500 rose 23.42 points, or 1.19 percent, to 1,985.05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 78.36 points, or 1.75 percent, to 4,564.29.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.1 percent to 85.415.

The dollar weakened against the euro, with the euro zone currency last at $1.2734, up 0.29 percent on the day.

The greenback briefly turned negative against the yen on the weaker U.S. data but regained some of an early rise and was last up 0.32 percent at 108.17 yen.

European government bond yields were broadly unchanged ahead of the Fed's latest policy announcement.

U.S. Treasuries prices eased on the rally in global equity markets and as investors awaited the results of the Fed meeting.

The 10-year Treasury notes fell 10/32 in price to yield 2.2943 percent.

Crude oil prices edged higher, with Brent hovering near $86 a barrel after two straight days of losses, as a weaker dollar helped prop up most commodities. But worries about a third straight weekly build in U.S. crude supplies capped gains.

Brent for December settled up 20 cents at $86.03 a barrel while U.S. December crude rose 42 cents to settle at $81.42.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by James Dalgleish and Dan Grebler)