Global stocks rise on stimulus plans

By Vivianne Rodrigues

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed across the globe on Tuesday, extending last week's advance, as investors bet economic stimulus packages would spur economic recovery, while demand concerns pulled oil off of levels above $50 a barrel.

Technology shares led gainers on Wall Street, with the S&P Information Technology index .GSPT, rising about 3 percent, and the U.S. dollar extended a three-day rally against most major currencies, particularly the euro.

U.S. Treasuries erased losses to trade little changed after stocks came off session highs, and New York crude futures settled lower as demand concerns and profit-taking halted a rally.

Investors looked past weak U.S. economic data and focussed on President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus plan, which has helped fuel a tentative recovery in world equity markets.

"Bad news has already been priced in by the market, while good news hasn't. All the stimulus plans and aggressive interest rate cuts are just starting to have an impact on equities," said Marc Touati, chief economist at Global Equities in Paris.

Obama's plan may include $310 billion (£208 billion) in tax cuts as part of a $775 billion package. German officials have also debated tax cuts to revive Europe's largest economy.

Stock investors shrugged off a warning in minutes of a meeting of Federal Reserve policy-makers on December 15-16 of uncomfortably low levels of inflation and that the economic outlook will be weak for some time.

Further signs of a dismal economy increase "the probability that the stimulus package will not just be passed, but ultimately be deployed in the size the new president wants," said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at Jefferies & Co in New York.