GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar rallies, equities gain in unsettled trading on US recovery hopes

(Updates through close of U.S. trading)

By David Randall

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - The dollar rallied to
four-month highs and global equity benchmarks edged higher
Thursday as investors looked past rising coronavirus cases in
Europe and focused on signs that the U.S. economy was rebounding
from the pandemic faster than anticipated.

Oil prices sank after surging on Wednesday when a container
ship became stuck in the Suez Canal. The ship may block the
vital shipping lane for weeks.

U.S. President Joe Biden held his first formal news
conference Thursday in which he reiterated that his next major
bill will address infrastructure and said that he would now
double his Administration's vaccination rollout plan after
reaching the previous goal of 100 million shots 42 days ahead of
schedule.

"U.S. stocks finished the day on a strong note as Biden
clearly laid out a plan that supports U.S. growth exceptionalism
in the near-term," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at
currency trading firm OANDA.

European markets edged lower following the biggest rise in
new coronavirus cases in Germany since Jan. 9 and the largest
number of patients with COVID-19 requiring intensive care in
France so far this year.

The dollar index hit its highest since November
overnight, at 92.697, breaking its 200-day moving average.

The dollar index rose 0.298%, with the euro
down 0.4% to $1.1765.

"The dollar is absolutely critical," said James Athey,
investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments. "If the
dollar starts rallying, that becomes a problem. It means
commodity weakness and emerging-market weakness and it starts to
provide a disinflationary countervailing narrative."

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe
gained 0.14% following modest gains in Europe and mixed trading
in Asia.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
200.81 points, or 0.62%, to 32,620.87, the S&P 500 gained
20.59 points, or 0.53%, to 3,909.73 and the Nasdaq Composite
added 15.79 points, or 0.12%, to 12,977.68.

Weighing on sentiment was a selloff in Chinese technology
shares amid concern they will be delisted from U.S. exchanges
on worries about a semiconductor shortage.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index edged 0.05% lower
to its lowest close since Dec. 11, weighed by jitters about
policy tightening and rising tensions between China and Western
countries over allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 2/32 in price
to yield 1.6191%, from 1.614% late on Wednesday.

The number of Americans filing new jobless claims fell to a
one-year low last week, a sign the U.S. economy is on the verge
of stronger growth as its vaccine rollout accelerates.

"We’re getting a little softness in the markets on
virus-variant jitters, but we’re buyers on weakness as the
economy gets closer to a full-scale reopening," said Cliff
Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth.

U.S. crude fell 4.38% to $58.50 per barrel and Brent
was at $61.71, down 4.19% on the day.

Spot gold dropped 0.4% to $1,726.96 an ounce, while
bitcoin slid 3.5%.

(Reporting by David Randall;
Editing by Bernadette Baum, Sonya Hepinstall and Angus MacSwan)