* Draghi comments, PMI data lift markets
* Euro falls, bund yields tick up
* Europe rally spills over from Asia
* Earnings-season concerns pushed aside
* Oil prices fall
By Lionel Laurent
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Global equities were set for their
third straight day of gains on Wednesday, buoyed by positive
economic data and a fresh pledge from the European Central Bank
to ramp up stimulus if necessary.
Over the past month, markets have clawed back losses from a
summer sell-off driven by fears of a China slowdown. Investors
are betting that the global economy is going through a
short-lived rough patch rather than a deeper downturn.
European equities rose 1 percent, German bund yields ticked
higher and the euro fell after ECB President Mario Draghi said
policymakers would review measures so far deployed when they
meet in December.
The rally spilled over from Asia, where economy-friendly
comments from China's president lifted Shanghai stocks and Japan
Post's $12 billion initial public offering boosted Tokyo firms.
In Europe, private-sector surveys indicated Germany was on a
solid growth path going into the fourth quarter. French activity
expanded at its fastest clip in four months in October.
"After the Draghi comments, you are seeing investors getting
on board," said Nick Lawson, a managing director at Deutsche
Bank, though he cautioned that an underwhelming earnings season
and a still-sluggish macroeconomic backdrop remained a concern.
Frankfurt's DAX index .GDAXI underperformed peers, dragged
down by an 8 percent fall in Volkswagen (DE:VOWG) VOWG_p.DE shares.
Fresh admissions over its emissions scandal threatened to make a
serious dent in car sales.
Europe's earnings season is past the halfway point and just
over half of the companies that have reported have failed to
meet forecasts. Companies exposed to the commodities slump have
been hit hard: Shares of Vedanta Resources VED.L fell 3.1
percent after suspending its dividend, though Glencore GLEN.L
got a lift after saying it was on track to cut debt.
Oil prices fell on profit-taking while copper prices bounced
back from one-month lows.
Markets remained fixed on Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls
report and whether the data will support the case for the
Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.
Before that report, markets will have a chance to gauge the
health of the U.S. economy through the ADP employment data and
the ISM report on services sector sentiment due later in the
session.
"We've seen non-farm payrolls go in a completely different
direction from ADP or ISM and we've also seen average hourly
earnings or the unemployment rate trigger a U-turn after the
initial reaction to payrolls," wrote Kathy Lien, managing
director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management.
"So traders are rightfully sceptical about whether the
labour market report will confirm the Federal Reserve's hawkish
bias until the actual report is released."