GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares rally on U.S. tech earnings, ECB purchase plans

* Wall Street higher on Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , Texas Instruments (NasdaqGS: TXN - news) results

* European shares surge on report ECB to buy corporate bonds

* U.S. Treasury prices, euro fall

(Adds oil settlement prices)

By Sam Forgione

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A measure of global equity

markets advanced on Tuesday as technology earnings lifted U.S.

shares and the prospect of European Central Bank corporate bond

purchases boosted European stocks, while weighing on safe-haven

U.S. Treasuries prices.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) of Apple Inc and Texas Instruments Inc

gained on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings,

driving up the tech-heavy Nasdaq index more than 2 percent and

helping put the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight session

of gains. European shares gained on a Reuters report that the

ECB was readying a plan to buy corporate bonds.

"Any fund manager who is underweight on Apple is probably

rethinking that position today," said Michael Binger, senior

portfolio manager at Minneapolis-based Gradient Investments,

which owns Apple stock.

A selloff in Coca-Cola shares after disappointing

results limited the Dow's gains, however. U.S. corporate

earnings season will ramp up this week, with nearly 130 S&P 500

companies scheduled to report.

The Reuters report that the ECB is considering buying

corporate bonds sparked a rally in the shares of peripheral

European countries and led the broader gains in European stocks.

The purchases are seen as helping banks free up more of their

balance sheets for lending. The news also sent low-risk U.S.

Treasuries prices down and hurt the euro.

"It increases the potential scale of the purchases the ECB

will be able to make if they extend out into the corporate bond

market," said Lee Hardman, a strategist with Bank of

Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London.

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's all-country world index was last up

1.3 percent at 405.13, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index

of top European shares closed up 2.09 percent at 1,299.26.

The Dow Jones industrial average was last up 1.21

percent, at 16,598.5, while the S&P 500 was up 1.88

percent at 1,939.77. The Nasdaq Composite was up 2.31

percent at 4,415.63.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a

basket of six currencies, was up 0.42 percent, to 85.308.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were last

down 7/32 in price to yield 2.21 percent.

Oil prices rose. Brent crude settled up 82 cents, or

0.96 percent, at $86.22 per barrel. U.S. crude settled up

10 cents, or 0.12 percent, at $82.81 per barrel.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones and Patrick Graham in

London, Ryan Vlastelica and Richard Leong in New York; Editing

by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler)