* US, Iran launch attacks in the Gulf

* Oil prices ease but still over $100/barrel

* Traders on watch for yen intervention

(Updates with European trading, adds comments)

By Rae Wee and Amanda Cooper

SINGAPORE/LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose

on Tuesday, taking some heart from a series of robust earnings,

while simmering hostilities between the U.S. and Iran over the

Strait of Hormuz kept the oil price well above $100 a barrel.

Traders also had their eyes on the yen after the

Japanese currency briefly jumped in the previous session,

stoking speculation of another round of intervention from Tokyo.

In Europe, the STOXX 600 rose 0.5%, lifted by

brewer Anheuser-Busch, which beat forecasts with

first-quarter results, and by shares in Italian lender Unicredit

, which reported record quarterly profits.

The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks in the Gulf on Monday

as they wrestled for control over the Strait of Hormuz with

duelling maritime blockades, not long after U.S. President

Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and

other ships through the vital energy-trade chokepoint.

Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a

U.S.-flagged vehicle carrier operated by its Farrell Lines

subsidiary, exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied

by U.S. military assets on Monday.

Stocks and other risk assets got some respite from a modest

retreat in the oil price, which edged below Monday's high around

$115 a barrel.

Still, the renewed hostilities jolted markets and served as

a stark reminder that the war in the Middle East was far from

over.

In oil markets, Brent crude futures fell 1.3% to

$112.93 a barrel while U.S. crude slid 2.3% to $104 per

barrel, having both jumped in the previous session on heightened

worries about supply disruption.

"Markets may find some relief today following President

Trump's overnight comments suggesting the conflict could

continue for another two to three weeks. However, markets are

likely to view this with considerable scepticism, given the

recent escalation and the repeated extensions of projected

timelines for ending hostilities since the conflict began," ING

head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson said.

Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed 83% of S&P

500 companies that have already reported have beaten EPS

estimates and 78.2% of them have beaten revenue estimates. LSEG

data shows earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now projected to

top 18% in the first quarter, up from estimates of around 12.8%

just a month ago.

Nasdaq futures rose 0.6% and S&P 500 futures

were up 0.3%, suggesting a pickup from Monday's negative close.

"With no signs of slowing down, AI-driven spending will

likely continue to do the heavy lifting for S&P 500 earnings

growth, led by the technology sector," said Jeff Buchbinder,

chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.

YEN INTERVENTION WATCH

The yen was last steady at 157.26 per dollar, after

Monday's short-lived surge that saw the Japanese currency touch

an intraday high of 155.69.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday spoke

out against speculative trading in foreign exchange, leaving

market participants on alert for further intervention after

sources told Reuters Tokyo intervened to prop up its ailing

currency on Thursday.

Abbas Keshvani, Asia Macro Strategist at RBC Capital

Markets, said authorities could intervene again if dollar/yen

continues to test 160 which they have historically defended,

noting that in 2022, Tokyo "fired three volleys of intervention

in a few weeks".

"We suspect intervention will merely act as a lid on

USD/JPY, not a catalyst for protracted yen strength," he said.

In other currencies, the Australian dollar last traded

0.1% lower at $0.7161, after the Reserve Bank of Australia on

Tuesday raised rates for a third time this year in a widely

expected move.

Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,553 an ounce, above

Monday's trough at $4,500, the lowest since March 31.