GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares rise, euro slumps as ECB hints at fresh stimulus

* S&P 500 poised for best week in a year
* Dollar back on the charge as Draghi sends euro tumbling
* U.S. crude at three-month lows

(Updates with opening of U.S. markets; changes dateline from
LONDON)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Stocks in major markets gained
on Friday, with the benchmark U.S. index poised for its best
week in a year, while the euro lost ground against the dollar as
Europe's central bank said it was ready to act quickly to boost
inflation.
U.S. crude dipped to its lowest level in about three months
amid persistent oversupply concerns.
The S&P 500 index was on track for its best weekly gains in
a year, while markets in Frankfurt and Tokyo edged higher, as
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi offered the
strongest hint yet that bank will unveil fresh stimulus measures
at its Dec. 3 meeting.
"The comments support expectations of additional, possibly
aggressive, stimulus at the (ECB's) December policy meeting,"
said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist, at Scotiabank in
Toronto.
By contrast, investors in recent days have increasingly
registered expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise
interest rates next month.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 138.33 points,
or 0.78 percent, to 17,871.08, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 12.15
points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,093.39 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 31.73 points, or 0.63 percent, to 5,105.37.
Nike (N:NKE) NKE.N shares rose 4.7 percent, boosting the S&P
index, after the sportswear maker unveiled a $12 billion share
buyback program. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13E4TS
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 climbed 0.1
percent, hovering around three-month highs as it tracked to its
best weekly performance in a month.
An index of major global markets .MIWD00000PUS rose 0.3
percent.
Draghi told a press conference in Frankfurt: "If we decide
(on Dec. 3) that the current trajectory of our policy is not
sufficient to achieve our objective, we will do what we must to
raise inflation as quickly as possible."
The comments put pressure on the euro EUR= , which fell
against the dollar after two days of gains. It was off 0.6
percent and slipped back below $1.07 against the dollar.
"With the ECB easing policy, I would be very surprised if
the euro didn't fall through parity," Mark Burgess, Chief
Investment Officer at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, told
Reuters' Investment Summit on Friday.
Meanwhile, the dollar .DXY rose 0.4 percent against a
basket of currencies, resuming its march upward over the past
month.
"It's hard not to say that you're bullish on the U.S.
dollar," said Ken Lambden, senior investment manager at Barings
Asset Management in London said at the Reuters summit this week.
Prices of benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RR rose
2/32 for a yield of 2.2394 percent.
The stronger dollar was one factor pressuring beaten-down
oil prices, as the stronger greenback makes commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 0.4 percent to $44.36 a barrel,
while U.S. crude fell 1 percent to $40.14 a barrel.
"The drivers that pushed prices lower are still there," said
Hamza Khan, head of commodity strategy at ING, pointing to the
strong dollar and increasingly efficient U.S. shale operations
in addition to the overhang of physical oil. "Any rally today is
going to have a difficult time finding traction."
Zinc prices CMZN3 surged as much as 5.9 percent after top
Chinese smelters agreed to cut output next year by 500,000
tonnes, sparking worries about shortages.