* U.S. crude rises 0.9 pct, Brent slips
* Dollar falls for third straight session
* Europe shares little changed
* U.S. economic data mixed, home resales drop sharply
(Updates with close of U.S. markets)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street climbed on Tuesday,
buoyed by energy shares as sliding oil prices stabilized and by
fairly healthy data on U.S. economic growth, while the dollar
fell for a third consecutive session.
Wall Street has been closely correlated with energy prices
in recent weeks as crude has extended a 1-1/2-year slide this
month and plumbed fresh multi-year lows.
U.S. crude prices CLc1 settled up 0.9 percent to $36.14 a
barrel, as traders squared positions ahead of a traditional
year-end period of low liquidity. Brent LCOc1 fell 0.4 percent
to $36.20 a barrel, after trading higher earlier in the session.
Between the two crude prices, "there is some stability
here," said Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co in New
York.
At this time of year, "so few people are involved in the
marketplace that any single thing can have an outsized reaction
in the market," Holland said. "The fact that oil is up is a
major piece of the puzzle here."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 165.65 points,
or 0.96 percent, to 17,417.27, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 17.82
points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,038.97 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 32.19 points, or 0.65 percent, to 5,001.11.
The S&P energy sector index .SPNY rose 1.2 percent, as did
the materials .SPLRCM and industrials .SPLRCI groups.
Noting that those three sectors are among those "that have
been blasted the most" this year, Mark Luschini, chief
investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in
Philadelphia, said the stock rally "could be simply an oversold
bounce."
The pan-European stock index .FTEU3 edged down 0.04
percent. Spain's IBEX .IBEX rose 0.5 percent, rebounding
following a selloff in the previous session after an
inconclusive Spanish election result.
MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS rose 0.7
percent.
Investors digested mixed data out of the United States.
U.S. home resales posted their sharpest drop in five years
in November, according to the National Association of Realtors,
in a potential warning sign for the U.S. economy.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed the
country's gross domestic product grew at a 2.0 percent annual
pace in the third-quarter, a fairly healthy clip, supported by
strong consumer and business spending.
The U.S. economic growth and inflation data reinforced the
view that the Federal Reserve would proceed with a steady pace
of interest rate increases next year, which sent shorter-dated
Treasury yields modestly higher.
U.S. 30-year Treasury yields rose on the recovery in U.S.
crude oil prices, which suggested marginally higher inflation,
analysts said. Higher inflation tends to lead traders to sell
long-dated Treasuries since inflation erodes interest payouts on
those bonds.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were down 11/32
in price to yield 2.238 percent, from a yield of 2.197 percent
late Monday. U.S. 30-year Treasury bonds US30YT=RR were down
26/32 in price to yield 2.966 percent, from a yield of 2.925
percent late Monday.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against
a basket of currencies, fell 0.2 percent, as more traders booked
profits on bullish bets following the Fed's interest rate
increase last week. The euro EUR= rose 0.4 percent against the
dollar.
"As soon as Fed's rate hike was out of the way, we saw a lot
of investors getting out of their long dollar positions," said
Sireen Harajli at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.
Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.6 percent after two sessions of
gains.
Copper CMCU3 fell 1.5 percent as traders were reluctant to
push the metal above Monday's five-week peak given slowing
economic growth in China.