Global stocks rise despite Greece; oil up on Libya

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares fell in Europe and Greek debt yields rose on Monday after the parliament in Athens rejected the government's presidential candidate, setting the stage for an election that anti-bailout party Syriza could win.

Crude oil prices rose were boosted by concerns about disruption to output from Libya, though they remained near recent lows. U.S. stocks edged higher.

Greece's Syriza party wants to wipe out a big part of the country's debt and cancel the terms of a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund that Athens needs in order to pay its bills.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to get enough support for his nominee and will call a national election for Jan. 25. Stocks in Athens <.ATG> plunged as much as 11.3 percent and yields on 10-year government bonds spiked to their highest since September 2013.

On Wall Street, however, the S&P 500 touched yet another intraday record high, boosted by gains in energy, consumer and bank stocks.

"Greece is always worth paying attention to, but it?s a hiccup," said Mark Martiak, senior wealth strategist at Premier Wealth/First Allied Securities in New York. "I don?t see it as anything that makes a difference in the overall market."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 8.86 points, or 0.05 percent, at 18,062.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 4.35 points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,093.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 6.39 points, or 0.13 percent, at 4,813.25.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> slipped 0.1 percent and an MSCI gauge of major equity markets <.MIWD00000PUS> edged up 0.2 percent.

Following two days of declines, oil prices rose after Libyan officials said a fire caused by fighting at a main export terminal destroyed 800,000 barrels of crude, more than two days of output. [O/R]

Brent crude was up 16 cents at $59.61 per barrel after hitting a high of $60.43. U.S. crude added 20 cents to $54.93 a barrel.

Hurt in part by the sharp decline in crude prices in the past six months, Russia's economy shrank sharply in November and the rouble resumed its slide. Western sanctions combined with lower oil to inflict the first contraction in Russian GDP since the global financial crisis.

The rouble fell 5.8 percent versus the greenback, near 57 per dollar.

The implications of the slide in oil on many of the larger producers that depend on crude revenues are a headwind for financial markets as the year end approaches.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose on safety buying after the Greek parliament vote, though trading was light as many investors are away the week between the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 14/32, its yield at 2.1986 percent.

The euro advanced slightly against the U.S. dollar despite the Greek concern, up 0.1 percent at $1.2187 . It was not far from last week's $1.2164, which was the lowest going back to early August 2012.

The dollar strengthened marginally against the yen at 120.64 but lacked momentum to challenge a 7-1/2 year high of 121.84 hit earlier this month.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica and Karen Brettell; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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