Stocks steady to higher on Greece optimism; U.S. bond yields rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Signs of possible agreement soon between Greece and its creditors steadied world stock markets on Friday and sent U.S. bond yields to nine-month highs by curbing demand for safe-haven U.S. debt.

Euro zone partners offered to release billions in frozen aid in a last-minute push to win Greece's acceptance for a cash-for-reform deal.

That helped steady global equity markets which fell in earlier trading Friday on concerns over the failure of Greece to reach a pact with its creditors Thursday.

The creditors had laid out fresh terms to Greece on Thursday, saying Athens could have 15.5 billion euros in EU and IMF funding in four installments to see it through to the end of November.

"For the most part, we are trading off any news that comes out of Greece. I am looking for an agreement that falls somewhere in between full compliance and default," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

Wall Street rose in morning trading on hopes for avoiding a Greek debt default. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 81.95 points, or 0.46 percent, to 17,972.31, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 1.38 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,103.69 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 20.17 points, or 0.39 percent, to 5,092.02.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index was up 0.1 percent after dropping earlier in the day. MSCI's all-country index <.MIWD00000PUS>, a gauge of stock performance in 46 countries, dipped 0.1 percent, and was down for a third day.

TREASURY YIELDS JUMP

U.S. Treasury yields rose, with long-dated yields hitting a near nine-month high, after euro zone partners' offer to release billions in frozen aid to Greece reduced demand for safe-haven U.S. debt.

U.S. 30-year Treasury yields hit 3.23 percent, their highest since Oct. 3.

U.S. 30-year Treasuries were last down 1-7/32 in price to yield 3.22 percent, from a yield of 3.16 percent late Thursday. Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 18/32 in price to yield 2.46 percent, from a yield of 2.39 percent late Thursday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed his government's frustrations with creditors' demands for austerity to French and German counterparts on Friday, highlighting the gulf that needs to be closed in weekend talks.

The euro fell to a session low $1.11550, a loss of 0.43 percent, after Tsipras's comments.

In commodities trading, Brent crude was down 61 cents at $62.59 a barrel while U.S. crude also eased, as investors focused on Greece.

(Additional reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru, Sam Forgione in New York, John Geddie and Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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