By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets eased and the dollar fell on Thursday as mixed results from blue-chip companies on both sides of the Atlantic and renewed concerns about the slowing pace of growth in China weighed on investor sentiment.
U.S. stocks rebounded off early weakness as gains in technology companies, especially Facebook, lifted the Nasdaq.
The dollar fell against the euro and the yen as investors saw positive economic news in Europe, but a rise in U.S. business spending plans for a third straight month in June was not enough to drive the U.S. currency.
In Europe, profit warnings by German heavyweights BASF
Results from General Motors
Facebook Inc
Facebook was by far the most active Nasdaq-listed share.
Of the 233 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted results through early Thursday, 67.8 percent beat analyst expectations, slightly better than the past four quarters and above the 63 percent average since 1994, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S said.
"To the extent that earnings continue to be strong, that helps to take off some of the perception that we've gone too far, too fast," said Mitch Rubin, chief investment officer at RiverPark Advisors in New York, where he helps oversee $2.1 billion.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.30 points, or 0.12 percent, at 15,522.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.46 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,686.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 17.93 points, or 0.50 percent, at 3,597.53.
Global shares as measured by MSCI's all-country world index fell 0.1 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.45 percent at 1,209.11.
Major indexes in Britain, France and Germany also closed lower.
In London, mining shares were also big losers, led by Anglo American
German government bonds fell as better data from major European economies this week prompted investors to dump safe-haven assets.
German business morale rose for a third straight month in July, Spain's unemployment rate fell for the first time in two years and UK growth sped up in the second quarter.
German 10-year yields were up 3.2 basis points at 1.67 percent, while German Bund futures settled down 44 ticks at 142.28 after Wednesday's more than full-point drop.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 5/32, the yield at 2.6015 percent.
The euro was near a one-month peak in New York trading after the German Ifo survey. The influential think tank's business climate index rose to 106.2 in July from 105.9 a month ago, just ahead of forecasts of a 106.1 reading.
The euro was up 0.35 percent at $1.3246, while the dollar index was down 0.42 percent at 81.948.
The dollar was down 0.75 percent at 99.49 yen.
Crude edged higher in choppy trade after initially falling on concerns over weak Chinese economic data dimming the outlook for demand in the world's No. 2 oil consumer. U.S. crude output reached the highest rate in more than two decades.
Brent crude oil rebounded, rising 46 cents to settle at $107.65 a barrel.
U.S. crude futures rose 10 cents to settle at $105.49 a barrel.
USEFUL LINKS:
U.S. natural gas stocks: http://link.reuters.com/mup44s
U.S. durable goods: http://link.reuters.com/huq55t
U.S. jobless claims: http://link.reuters.com/xew34t
General Motors earnings: http://link.reuters.com/faq89t
(Additional reporting by Richard Hubbard in London; Editing by James Dalgleish and Dan Grebler)
