GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks jump on report Brexit deal may be close, oil slips

(Adds U.S. market open, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
* Upbeat start to U.S. earnings season lifts Wall Street
* Oil prices drop as trade war jitters cloud growth outlook
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* Oil prices steady on trade war jitters but OPEC hints
supply
restraint
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* World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Data shows China factory gate prices decline accelerate
Sentiment still fragile due to U.S.-China trade war
* German investor sentiment worsened less-than-expected
* All eyes on Brexit ahead of EU summit later in the week

By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Stocks in Europe and on Wall
Street jumped more than 1% on Tuesday on strong U.S. corporate
results and a possible deal to avoid a disorderly British exit
from the European Union, while oil prices fell as weak China
data kindled global economy fears.
Media reports quoting EU officials as saying negotiators
were close to a Brexit deal triggered a late afternoon rally
across European equity markets and helped further lift Wall
Street gains from strong earnings reports. Optimism over a Brexit breakthrough even turned the
benchmark FTSE 100 .FTSE stock index in London, which usually
suffers from the pound's sharp rise, positive.
Sterling climbed more than 1% as banking stocks,
housebuilders and real estate jumped.
The jump in stock prices eased ongoing concerns about the
impact of the prolonged U.S.-China trade war on global growth
though investors held out hope the dispute could be also be
resolved.
"If we can resolve the China trade issue and have a
reasonably good resolution to the Brexit issue with the UK, it
adds a sense of optimism to the market. Combine that with the
earnings today being good and happy days are here again," said
Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family
investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.97% while the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX
rose 1.23%. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of leading
regional shares closed up a preliminary 1.01%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
283.62 points, or 1.06%, to 27,070.98. The S&P 500 .SPX gained
32.9 points, or 1.11%, to 2,999.05 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 94.03 points, or 1.17%, to 8,142.67.
Upbeat results from JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N ,
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.
eased concerns about the impact from a prolonged U.S.-China
trade war on corporate America.
Optimism over a potential Brexit deal helped allay concerns
about a slowing economy brought on by the U.S.-China trade war.
The mood among German investors worsened less this month
than analysts had expected, a ZEW survey showed, amid concern
that Europe's biggest economy might be headed for recession.
ZEW's headline economic sentiment index, which touched its
lowest in almost seven years in August, appears to have
stabilized. But the investor assessment of German's current
economic condition in October was as pessimistic as it was in
2010. Chinese stocks snapped a five-day winning streak after the
latest factory gate data added to China's economic woes and the
end of the trade war remained elusive.
The dollar traded mixed. The dollar index .DXY fell 0.16%,
while the euro EUR= was up 0.07% at $1.1036.
The yen JPY= weakened 0.35% versus the greenback to 108.80
per dollar. Sterling GBP= rose to $1.273, up 0.98% on the day.
Oil futures were slightly lower. Brent crude LCOc1 fell 17
cents to $59.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) crude CLc1 dropped 13 cents to $53.46 a barrel.
Prices for the benchmark U.S. Treasury's 10-year note
US10YT=RR rose, pushing its yield down to 1.7465%.
Euro zone government bonds sold off after media reports that
UK and EU negotiators were close to a draft deal on Brexit
boosted investors' risk appetite.
Irish government bonds outperformed euro zone peers on
Brexit hopes. Yields on Irish 10-year bonds were back in
negative territory at -0.02% IE10YT=RR after sliding 6 basis
points on the day.
Dublin-listed shares rose 1.3% to the highest since Sept.
2018 .ISEQ .
Britain is Ireland's largest trading partner and its border
with the British province of Northern Ireland has been the
thorniest issue in Brexit negotiations.

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