GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks gain after earnings, deal news, data; U.S. yields move up

* U.S. housing starts rise, jobless claims fall more than
expected
* Cisco, Walmart shares rise after earnings, buoying Wall St
* Germany's DAX jumps, leads European markets higher
* Trade in focus after latest U.S. sanctions on Huawei
* Oil prices rise as Middle East tensions persist

(Updates with close of U.S. markets)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - World stock markets were buoyed
by deal-making news and solid earnings from Dow components Cisco
and Walmart on Thursday while strong economic data pushed U.S.
bond yields higher even as investors struggled to make sense of
the latest developments in global trade relations.
A spike in U.S.-China tensions over import tariffs has
convulsed markets recently as investors seek to parse statements
from government leaders to gauge the direction of negotiations.
News that U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to delay
auto tariffs appeared to improve the trade tone on Wednesday,
but later in the day the Trump administration hit Chinese
telecoms giant Huawei with severe sanctions. “The overall market sentiment got pretty negative the last
couple of days," said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at
SunTrust Advisory Services in Atlanta. "And I think it was just
a set-up where we had a little bit of good news that has gone a
long way, at least for today.
“It makes sense that you are having a little bit of reprieve
today based on a little better economic data and a little bit
better earnings data which is drawing the attention away from
China, which is still a big uncertainty right now,” Lerner said.
Wall Street's main indexes ended solidly positive but below
their session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 214.66 points, or 0.84%, to 25,862.68, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 25.36 points, or 0.89%, to 2,876.32 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 75.90 points, or 0.97%, to 7,898.05.
Shares of Cisco Systems CSCO.O and Walmart WMT.N both
gave boosts to the S&P 500 and the Dow after their respective
earnings reports. Cisco shares rose 6.7% and Walmart rose 1.4%.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX fell 1.7%
following the Huawei news.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.27%.
Germany's DAX .GDAXI jumped 1.7%, fueled by news of
corporate deals. Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE shares rose 9.4% after
Reuters reported Finnish company Kone KNEBV.HE is assessing a
bid for the German conglomerate's elevators division.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.58%.
U.S. homebuilding increased more than expected in April and
activity in the prior month was stronger than initially thought.
In a separate report, the number of Americans filing
applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected
last week. U.S. Treasury yields rose following the strong economic
data. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 6/32 in price
to yield 2.398%, from 2.379% late on Wednesday.
"I'm a little surprised that with stocks so strong, the
yields aren't even higher because this doesn't seem to be that
big of a move in the scheme of things," said Lou Brien, market
strategist at DRW Trading.
The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies as
investors focused on trade war tensions, while the euro was hurt
by concerns about next week's European parliamentary elections.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.26%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.21% to $1.1176.
Oil prices jumped as tensions in the Middle East grew, with
a Saudi-led coalition launching air strikes in Yemen in
retaliation for recent attacks on its crude infrastructure.
U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 1.4% to settle at $62.87 a barrel,
while Brent LCOcv1 settled at $72.62 a barrel, up 1.2%.

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