* European stocks up 2 pct, helped by mining shares
* Dollar, U.S. yields rise as oil, stocks gain
* Oil touches seven-week high
(Updates with opening of U.S. markets, previous dateline
LONDON)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Global equity markets gained on
Friday, backed by higher prices for oil and other commodities,
while data showed the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in
the fourth quarter.
U.S. gross domestic product growth was revised higher, to a
1.0 percent annual rate, while economists were expecting it to
come in at 0.4 percent.
The robust U.S. economic report also boosted Treasury yields
and the dollar.
Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 stock index .FTEU3 rose 2
percent, outperforming Wall Street, supported by a rally in
mining shares as industrial metals such as copper CMCU3 and
aluminium gained CMAL3 .
Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 jumped to a seven-week high
before paring gains.
With oil's steep 1-1/2-year slide, the performance of
equities has been tightly linked to the commodity's daily
fluctuations as investors say oil has been seen as a proxy for
the health of the global economy.
"Today's market is going to be all about oil and economic
data," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First
Standard Financial in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 56.84 points,
or 0.34 percent, to 16,754.13, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.56
points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,961.26 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 28.00 points, or 0.61 percent, to 4,610.20.
With equity markets off to a slow start in 2016 amid
concerns about an economic slowdown, investors are watching the
next move from the U.S. Federal Reserve after the central bank
raised rates in December.
ROSY DATA
Friday's encouraging economic data may be interpreted by
investors as raising the chances for a rate hike, potentially
pressuring stocks, said Walter Todd, chief investment officer
with Greenwood Capital in South Carolina.
"I think better economic data is good regardless, but the
market is nervous about the Fed moving too quickly," Todd said.
Investors were also eyeing a meeting of officials of G20
leading economies in Shanghai, where China sought to restore
confidence in its economy, the world's second-biggest.
European equities rallied for a second day and touched a
three-week high.
MSCI's gauge of global stock markets .MIWD00000PUS was up
0.5 percent.
Brent crude prices were on track for their first weekly gain
in a month as strong U.S. gasoline demand and supply disruptions
outweighed concerns about a fundamental glut.
Brent crude rose 3 percent to $36.34 a barrel, while U.S.
crude CLc1 gained 1.8 percent to $33.67 a barrel.
Gains in oil along with the U.S. economic data helped push
U.S. Treasury yields higher.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last down 21/32 in
price to yield 1.7675 percent, up from 1.70 percent late
Thursday.
"We got some pretty surprising GDP data, an upward revision,
and not too many people had pegged that," said Thomas Simons, a
money market economist at Jefferies LLC in New York.
The dollar .DXY gained 0.9 percent against a basket of six
currencies, while the euro EUR= dropped 0.9 percent against
the greenback.
"The fact that GDP was revised higher is a positive for the
dollar this morning ... giving confidence to markets that the
Fed may resume its tightening policy this year," said Sireen
Harajli, currency strategist at Mizuho Bank Ltd in New York.