(Updated at 4:13 p.m. ET (2013 GMT))

* Trump to address nation at 9 p.m. Wednesday (0100 GMT

Thursday)

* Global stocks rally on de-escalation hopes

* Brent crude falls, gold rises

By Chris Prentice and Lucy Raitano

NEW YORK/LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Global stocks

rallied and oil futures retreated on Wednesday on hopes of a

de-escalation in the Iran war.

The U.S. dollar softened against a basket of other

currencies, while U.S. Treasury yields rose from their lows

after a pair of reports underscored resilience in the U.S.

economy.

President Donald Trumpsaid the U.S. could end its military

attacks on Iran in two to three weeks, and could return for

"spot hits," if needed. He also threatened to quit NATO.

The war is in its fifth week and the White House is under

pressure to de-escalate amid rising gasoline ​prices.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

rose 1.75%.

"We have Trump's comments, which tend to change a bit," said

Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

"Everybody's trying to guess as to what he really means by what

he's saying. The markets want it to be positive, they want the

war to be over."

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

0.48% to 46,565.74, the S&P 500 gained 0.72% to 6,575.32

and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.16% to 21,840.95.

In Europe, the STOXX 600 jumped 2.5% on strength

from travel, aerospace and defense stocks. That followed a March

performance that saw the pan-European index logging its steepest

monthly decline since June 2022.

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 57.45

points, or 2.47%. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei rallied 5.24%.

"Markets are trading this narrative that the war could be

over, or at least that the U.S. could withdraw. That is creating

this positive sentiment in risk assets," said Evelyne

Gomez-Liechti, multi-asset strategist at Mizuho, though she

added she was more inclined to be skeptical about the rally.

IRAN WAR DEVELOPMENTS

Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had asked for a ceasefire,

but he will consider it only after Tehran stops blocking the

Strait of Hormuz. Iran denied it made any such request.

Analysts expect energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz

would be slow to return to levels before the conflict even if a

ceasefire is announced.

Trump is expected to provide an update on Iran in an address

to the nation at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday).

Brent fell 2.7% to settle at $101.16 per barrel and

U.S. crude finished down 1.24% to $100.12.

Euro zone bond yields dropped on hopes of de-escalation in

the Middle East. Germany's 10-year yield, the

benchmark for the euro zone, fell 1 basis point to 2.986%.

The U.S. dollar index slipped 0.12%, extending

losses from the prior session's biggest one-day drop in two

weeks.

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

1.6 basis points to 4.327%. The 2-year note yield,

which typically moves in step with Federal Reserve interest rate

expectations, rose 0.8 basis points to 3.807%.

A PMI survey showed euro zone manufacturing growth bounced

to its strongest in nearly four years in March as supply chain

disruptions inflated growth figures.

International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol said on

Wednesday that oil supply disruptions from the Middle East will

rise in April and begin to impact Europe's economy as the

closure of the Strait of Hormuz severely curbs supplies.

The euro rose 0.28% to $1.1584.

In commodities, gold rose for a fourth session as the dollar

slipped, making the metal less expensive to holders of other

currencies.

Spot gold rose 2.11% to $4,768.04 an ounce. U.S. gold

futures settled 2.9% higher at $4,813.10.