* U.S. stocks hit one-month highs
* Earnings from Bank of American and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upbeat
* Sterling up against dollar after May wins confidence vote
* U.S. crude ends up 0.4 percent
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - World stock markets rose on Wednesday, with Wall Street's major indexes hitting one-month highs after strong earnings from Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs, while the pound rose after British Prime Minister Theresa May's government won a confidence vote in parliament.
May can now try to build consensus on an agreement on Britain's departure from the European Union. The confidence vote followed the parliamentary defeat of May's Brexit deal late Tuesday.
Hopes for a softer Brexit, perhaps incorporating the Labour Party's idea of a customs union, gave some support to the pound.
"Sterling has jumped on the back of this because now we are looking at the possibilities of other parties coming to Theresa May and work with her on the issue of Brexit. The future path will be very much dependent on the promises she makes with cross parties," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK Ltd in London, wrote in a note following the vote.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2877, up 0.15 percent on the day.
Stocks held their gains following the vote. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.18 percent.
On Wall Street, results from Bank of America BAC.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N eased worries about the earnings outlook and helped to support stocks. Bank of America shares were up 7.2 percent while Goldman's stock was up 9.5 percent. still way early, but so far the tone has been good," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
"The fact that the banks are a little more sensitive certainly to interest rates and the yield curve and business activity, it gives a decent read on the economy."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 141.57 points, or 0.59 percent, to 24,207.16, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.8 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,616.1 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 10.86 points, or 0.15 percent, to 7,034.69.
Investors also digested a Wall Street Journal report that federal prosecutors are investigating Huawei Technologies, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. businesses and could soon issue an indictment. pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.54 percent.
The dollar rose against the euro as the euro zone single currency was pushed lower by worries about the zone's economy, with the euro EUR= down 0.18 percent to $1.1393.
Data this week showed Germany barely escaped a recession in the second half of 2018. On Tuesday, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned the euro zone economy was weaker than anticipated. Treasury yields climbed as the confidence vote and stock market gains reduced safety bids on the bond market. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 6/32 in price to yield 2.7272 percent, from 2.708 percent late on Tuesday.
Oil prices also gained, boosted by the U.S. equity market rally and a supply cut agreement by OPEC+. crude LCOc1 futures rose 68 cents to settle at $61.32 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 20 cents to settle at $52.31 a barrel.
For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets, please click on: LIVE/
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Global currencies vs. dollar
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Global assets in 2018
http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl Emerging markets in 2018
http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>