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U.S. retail sales beat estimates

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Gold touches record high

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ECB cuts rates by 25 bps

(Updates to 14:44 EDT)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks followed their

European counterparts higher and gold touched an all-time high

on Thursday investors parsed an array of mixed quarterly

earnings and digested a series of robust economic reports.

Gold hit a record high as the safe-haven metal benefited

from looming election uncertainties.

Technology shares, particularly chips

provided much of the upside muscle after Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing ( TSM ), beat earnings estimates and forecast a

jump in fourth-quarter revenue, helping to ease fears of

softening demand in the sector.

"By far the biggest contributor to today's rally is TSMC's

upward guidance, and that the much-telegraphed semiconductor

slowdown associated with potential oversaturation of AI is not

emerging, at least in their order books," said Michael Green,

chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia.

"So that leadership from the semiconductor space, when

it hits the largest cap companies, is going to push the headline

indices higher," Green said. "That, and the response to retail

sales data," has added support to U.S. stocks, Green added.

All three major U.S. stock indexes advanced and the dollar

built on recent gains after a report from the Commerce

Department showed stronger-than-expected retail sales, and the

Labor Department's initial jobless claims data landed below

economists' estimates.

The Dow was on track to notch another all-time closing high.

Growth shares were outperforming value, while

regional banks were ahead of the pack in the wake of

upbeat earnings from M&T Bank, KeyCorp and others.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.46 points,

or 0.35%, to 43,229.15, the S&P 500 rose 4.07 points, or

0.07%, to 5,846.34 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 32.63

points, or 0.18%, to 18,399.71.

European shares rallied, closing within 1% of record high

levels after the European Central Bank (ECB) implemented a

broadly expected 25-basis-point rate cut, while offering scant

clues regarding its next move.

The move marked the ECB's third rate cut this year as the

central bank has shifted its focus from reining in inflation to

shoring up the EU's sputtering economy.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose

0.21 points, or 0.02%, to 852.43. The STOXX 600 index

rose 0.83%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index

rose 17.82 points, or 0.87%. Emerging market stocks

fell 8.88 points, or 0.78%, to 1,135.16.

U.S. Treasury yields gained ground after data suggested the

U.S. economy is on solid footing, but left the Fed with enough

room to move forward on a slower path to lower rates.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes

rose 7.7 basis points to 4.093%, from 4.016% late on Wednesday.

The 30-year bond yield rose 9.3 basis points to

4.3924% from 4.299% late on Wednesday.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in

step with interest rate expectations, rose 4.3 basis points to

3.978%, from 3.935% late on Wednesday.

The dollar touched an 11-week high after retail sales data

beat expectations, boosting confidence in the health of the U.S.

economy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

rose 0.24% to 103.79, with the euro down 0.3% at $1.0828.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened

0.39% to 150.21.

Crude oil prices edged higher as investors juggled

developments in the Middle East conflict and falling U.S.

inventories with sturdy economic data.

U.S. crude rose 0.40% to $70.67 a barrel and Brent

rose to $74.45 per barrel, up 0.31% on the day.

Gold prices hit a record high on firming expectations for

additional rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and mounting

uncertainties surrounding the approaching U.S. presidential

election.

Spot gold rose 0.65% to $2,690.54 an ounce.