* Shares rebound but on track for worst week since June
* Gold, oil off lows but remain vulnerable to renewed slide
* Yen falls as G20 response to Japan stimulus mild
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - World equity markets and oil
prices rebounded on Friday in a relief rally after a sell-off
this week that was triggered by signs of sluggish global growth.
Oil prices pushed toward $100 a barrel and stocks on Wall
Street and in Europe advanced as bargain-hunters entered a
market still rattled by global demand concerns.
Stocks have sold off on recent economic data and have been
pressured by a plunge in commodity prices. The U.S. benchmark
S&P 500, down 3 percent over the past four sessions, is on track
to post its worst week this year, as were shares in Europe.
The S&P 500's close below the 50-day moving average on
Thursday indicated the medium-term uptrend in the market could
be in peril. The last time the index closed consecutive days
under its 50-day average was in early December.
The market's advance is a reaction to the recent declines
more than anything else, according to Jack De Gan, chief
investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire.
"It's a relief rally after the last couple of days," he
said.
The Dow was pulled lower by a rare quarterly earnings miss
by International Business Machines Corp. Three
brokerages cut their price targets for the company, and its
shares plunged 7.8 percent to $191.04, taking more than 120
points off the Dow.
A lockdown and city-wide search for a suspect in the Boston
Marathon bombing after another suspect was killed may have
contributed to reduced trading volume but did not appear to have
an impact on prices.
"A lot of folks in Boston are out of the market and anyone
not in Boston is stuck watching the TV trying to find out what's
going on there," said Brad Bechtel, managing director at foreign
exchange brokerage Faros Trading in Stamford, Connecticut.
Volume also was subdued because of this week's sell-off and
the fact there was no U.S. economic data released on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.95
points, or 0.07 percent, at 14,527.19. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index was up 11.96 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,553.57.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 41.61 points, or 1.31
percent, at 3,207.98.
MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's world share index, which tracks about
9,000 stocks in 45 countries, was up 0.6 percent at 356.04.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 rose 0.5 percent to
1,153.33.
The yen fell after Japan said the Group of 20 accepted its
stance that its recently announced aggressive monetary expansion
was aimed at beating deflation and not as a competitive
devaluation.
Traders said the lack of objection from the G20 to Japan's
policy encouraged hedge funds to resume buying the dollar
against the yen, leaving it poised to test the 100-yen mark in
the coming days.
The dollar rose 1.1 percent to 99.22 yen, leaving it
within sight of the four-year peak of 99.95 yen reached last
week.
The euro rose 0.26 percent to $1.3084.
Brent crude was up 68 cents to $99.81 a barrel. U.S.
crude rose 41 cents to $88.14 a barrel.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was
down 7/32 in price to yield 1.7083 percent.
