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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise on upbeat U.S. data, euro falls

* Robust U.S. retail data rekindle some bids for stocks

* Ukraine's ultimatum to separatists saps risk appetite

earlier

* Euro undermined by ECB officials' talk of more easing

* Japan's Nikkei marks fresh 6-month closing low

(Updates market action, adds quote)

By Marc Jones

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Global equities rose on Monday

on robust U.S. retail sales data, rebounding from last week's

steep decline, while the euro fell, prompted by the European

Central Bank's strongest signal yet that it would ease policy to

cool the single currency.

Encouraging news from the world's biggest economy, which was

bogged down by a harsh winter, overrode fears of a military

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conflict in Ukraine which had punished stock prices earlier.

Ukraine's president threatened military action after

pro-Russian separatists occupying government buildings in the

east ignored an ultimatum to leave and another group of rebels

attacked a police headquarters in the region.

"This is the first report that activity is bouncing back

from the winter weather," said Craig Dismuke, chief economic

strategist at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee said of the

March figure on U.S. retail sales, which jumped 1.1 percent, the

biggest monthly rise in 1-1/2 years.

"This should set the foundation for stocks to go up a bit

and bond yields to go higher," Dismuke said.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose

76.49 points or 0.48 percent, to 16,103.24, the S&P 500

gained 9.54 points or 0.53 percent, to 1,825.23 and the Nasdaq

Composite added 16.438 points or 0.41 percent, to

4,016.172.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks

shares in 45 nations, held steady at 404.40 points, erasing an

earlier loss of 0.3 percent.

A flurry of M&A activity, including a $6 billion copper mine

sale by Glencore Xstrata (Other OTC: GLCNF - news) , helped cushion the falls,

which were driven by a 0.6 percent decline in the Dax.

German-listed firms have some of the biggest links to Russia.

Russian shares tumbled 1.31 percent, while the rouble

fell 0.8 percent to its weakest level against the dollar

in nearly three weeks

European Union foreign ministers were to hold talks later on

Monday about tougher sanctions against Russia.

The worry for many is that the two sides end up imposing

increasingly tough measures that will inevitably harm both.

"The escalation sharply increases risks of an all-out civil

war in Ukraine," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in

a research note.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 0.4

percent at a fresh six-month closing low. It plunged 7.3 percent

last week, its biggest weekly fall since the devastating

earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

EURO FALLS

More promises from the ECB over the weekend that it will

take action to head off further gains in the euro pulled the

shared currency back to $1.3817 from Friday's high of $1.3905.

It fell 0.4 percent to 140.55 yen, near the low

end of its trading range since early March.

"The strengthening of the exchange rate would require

further monetary policy accommodation," ECB head Mario Draghi

said at a meeting of the International Monetary

Fund.

Benoit Coeure, another top ECB member, also laid out some

asset-buying options, a tactic which appears to be finally

gaining traction at the central bank.

The dollar gained against most major currencies on the

strong March retail sales report. It nudged up nearly 0.2

percent to 101.74 yen after touching a 3-1/2-week low of

101.32 yen on Friday, but that was far from the 2-1/2-month high

of 104.13 yen set on April 4.

Among commodities, spot gold benefited from the move

toward safe-haven assets, adding about 0.6 percent to $1,325.30

an ounce, after earlier marking a new three-week high.

Oil prices were underpinned by fears that the tension

between Russia and Ukraine could escalate. Ukraine is a major

supply route for Russian gas to Europe.

Brent crude for May delivery was last up $0.57, or

up 0.53 percent, at $107.9 a barrel, while U.S. spot crude

was last up $0.03, or up 0.03 percent, at $103.77 per

barrel.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones and Marius Zaharia in

London; Megan Davies in Moscow; Editing by John Stonestreet and

Jonathan Oatis)