China data boosts world stocks, euro climbs

WORLD STOCKS climbed on Thursday with Wall Street rallying and the euro rising after China reported solid export data and Spain successfully tapped bond markets, easing European debt concerns.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England both kept interest rates unchanged, as expected.

China confirmed that exports jumped 50% in May from a year ago, reassuring investors about the global economy in the face of the euro-zone debt crisis. Europe is China's biggest overseas market.

In the United States, a moderate economic recovery appeared underway as the trade deficit widened slightly in April and the number of U.S. workers filing new unemployment claims fell, albeit less than expected.

"The reaction to the China data was a fairly nice bounce in the euro overnight," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. That led to a movement up in European stocks that spilled over to the United States, he said.

US, stocks have been closely tied to the movement in the euro as investors use the currency as a barometer for confidence in the euro-zone economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 205.07 points, or 2.07 %, to 10,104.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 20.74 points, or 1.96%, to 1,076.43 and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 37.23 points, or 1.72%, to 2,196.08.

European shares shrugged off losses after the rise in Chinese exports, which ran counter to persistent fears the global economy was faltering.

The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 1.4%, extending gains as New York trading began. Asian stocks also gained, with Japan's Nikkei ending up 1.1%.

MSCI's all-country world index and the Thomson Reuters Equity Global Index both rose about 1.8%.

U.S.-traded shares of oil company BP Plc rebounded more than 10%, a day after plunging nearly 16% on mounting fears about how the company will cope with the massive costs of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.