GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks up as weak US data tied to weather; dlr drops

* U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fall; jobless claims rise

* U.S. stocks rise; Nasdaq up for a sixth session

* European stocks dip

* Italy's Letta announces resignation after market's close

* Bond prices gain

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Frankfurt: HX6.F - news) , Feb 13 (Reuters) - World stock markets edged

higher on Thursday as soft U.S. economic data was blamed on bad

weather, while the dollar fell to a two-week low against the

euro.

U.S. stocks rose, with big gains in technology shares giving

the Nasdaq a sixth straight session of gains, its best advance

since December 2011.

Unseasonably cold and snowy weather hurt U.S. retail sales,

considered a gauge of consumer spending. Sales fell unexpectedly

in January, while other data showed more Americans filed for

jobless benefits last week.

Large parts of the United States have been gripped by

freezing temperatures and snow storms, which caused investors to

largely discount both the day's and other recent weak data that

suggested the economy started the year on weaker footing.

"We understand the impact the weather is having, and we

expect the economy is going to perk up when we get some more

seasonal weather in the second quarter," said Phil Orlando,

chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York.

On Thursday, the eastern United States was in the grip of

another deadly winter storm that began late Wednesday. More than

700,000 people were without power.

"The culprit here is the weather, unequivocally," said

Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Services

Inc, in Troy, Michigan.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 63.65 points or

0.40 percent, to end at 16,027.59. The S&P 500 gained

10.57 points or 0.58 percent, to 1,829.83 while the Nasdaq

Composite added 39.384 points or 0.94 percent, to

4,240.672.

The Nasdaq gained about 5.7 percent over the past six

sessions, its best six-day string of gains since December 2011.

A disappointing outlook from Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) late

Wednesday curbed the Dow's gain. Cisco shares fell 2.5

percent to $22.27.

Comcast Corp said it would buy Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC - news)

Inc for $45.2 billion in an all-stock deal that combines

the two largest U.S. cable operators.

Time Warner Cable shares rose 7 percent to $144.81 while

Comcast shed 4.1 percent to $52.97. Shares of Charter

Communications Inc, which had also pursued Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - news)

Cable, fell 6.3 percent to $128.91.

The broad MSCI All-Country World Index was

up 0.2 percent, while MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's index of emerging market stocks was

down 0.8 percent.

In Europe, shares dipped as losses in Italy weighed on the

market because of political uncertainty there that raised

worries about efforts to turn around Italy's sputtering economy.

However, after the market's close, Italian Prime Minister Enrico

Letta said he would tender his resignation on Friday, opening

the way for center-left leader Matteo Renzi to take the helm.

European stocks snapped a week-long winning streak, with the

pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ending down 0.1

percent.

Shares of Swiss food group Nestle (VTX: NESN.VX - news) fell 1.5 percent

after the company said it may undershoot its long-term growth

targets again this year.

In the foreign exchange market, the dollar fell to a

two-week low against the euro and slid against other major

currencies, after the day's U.S. economic data. U.S. bond prices

rose following two days of losses.

The euro rallied against the dollar, to $1.3694, its

strongest level since Jan. 27, before trimming gains to trade

0.6 percent higher for the day, at $1.3680.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose

8/32 in price to yield 2.73 percent. Ten-year yields earlier hit

a session low of 2.72 percent following the U.S. 30-year bond

auction.

GOLD TOPS $1,300; OIL PRICES DIP

Gold rose above $1,300 an ounce for the first time in over

three months, gaining almost 1 percent after U.S. retail sales

data dragged on the dollar and increased bullion's appeal as a

currency hedge.

Spot gold rose to $1,302.40, its highest since Nov.

8. It was last up 0.9 percent at $1,301.79 an ounce.

Oil prices ended the session lower, though Brent's losses

were limited by a report from the International Energy Agency

that developed world inventories fell 1.5 million barrels per

day in the last three months of 2013, for the steepest quarterly

decline since 1999.

Brent crude oil futures fell 6 cents to settle at

$108.73 a barrel while U.S. crude oil dipped 2 cents to

settle at $100.35.