Stocks buoyed by tech bounce; Dudley remarks lift Treasury yields

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets climbed on Monday as technology and retail stocks rebounded from recent weakness and U.S. Treasury yields rose in the wake of hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official.

The tech sector <.SPLRCT>, up 1.4 percent, pushed equity indexes on Wall Street higher, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting intraday records. The group had fallen 3.4 percent over the past two weeks. [.N]

"You could argue that tech got a little overheated, so people took some profits and perhaps the selloff was a little deep, but it wasn't that deep, that's the thing," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

"It was easily justified giving how far they had outrun, but I can't believe it was as short-lived."

Retailers in Europe <.SXRP>, closed up 0.8 percent, and in the U.S. <.SPXRT> gained 0.8 percent, recouping some losses that were triggered on Friday by news of Amazon's $13.7 billion deal to buy upscale grocer Whole Foods Market .

It was Amazon's first major brick-and-mortar acquisition in the sector and already-struggling retailers were hit hard by the prospect of having a well-known disruptor as a competitor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108.41 points, or 0.51 percent, to 21,492.69, the S&P 500 gained 16.04 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,449.19 and the Nasdaq Composite added 76.13 points, or 1.24 percent, to 6,227.89.

A 1.2 percent gain in Europe's banks <.SX7E> also boosted European shares in the wake of broker upgrades for Credit Suisse .

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.87 percent and MSCI's gauge of stock markets across the globe gained 0.56 percent.

DUDLEY COMMENTS

The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields moved higher after comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley that reinforced expectations the central bank will continue on its path of tightening monetary policy.

The dollar index , tracking the greenback against a basket of key currencies, rose 0.37 percent, with the euro down 0.44 percent to $1.1148.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 8/32 in price to yield 2.1827 percent, from 2.157 percent late on Friday.

The Fed raised rates last week and said it would begin cutting its holdings of bonds and other securities this year.

The stronger dollar weighed on gold prices, but losses were curbed by uncertainty as talks commenced on the terms of Britain's departure from the European Union.

Britain's negotiators were in Brussels seeking a "new, deep and special partnership with the European Union" on Monday as talks on the unprecedented British withdrawal from the bloc finally got under way.

Oil prices gave up early gains and turned negative as rising production in the United States, Libya and Nigeria have foiled an OPEC-led effort to support the market by cutting production.

U.S. crude fell 1.41 percent to $44.11 per barrel and Brent was last at $46.81, down 1.18 percent on the day.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)