* U.S. retail sales, Google results, G20 spur optimism
* Brent rises toward $113 on optimism over debt crisis
* Euro extends gains against dollar after U.S. sales data
* Bonds succumb to rising equity markets, retail sales (Adds fresh prices)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Global stocks gained and the euro strengthened on Friday on growing optimism that Europe is on track to resolve its festering sovereign debt crisis and after data showed a surprising surge in U.S. retail sales.
Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs began two days of talks in Paris on Friday which investors hope will provide a basis for a draft plan in time for a European Union summit on Oct. 23. For details, see [ID:nL5E7L300R]
The benchmark S&P 500 was on track for back-to-back weekly gains for the first time since early July and gold headed toward its strongest weekly rise in over a month.
The euro rose 0.7 percent to $1.3866.
"Right now we are trading on hopes of a decisive policy response," said Jens Nordvig, head of G10 FX strategy at Nomura Securities in New York.
To be sure, investors do not expect a comprehensive strategy to Europe's debt crisis to come out of the meetings. But a report early in the session that said U.S. retail sales grew by 1.1 percent in September, the fastest pace in seven months, boosted investor sentiment on the economy's prospects.
The data, coupled with earnings from Google
The data also was expected to help lift forecasts for growth in gross domestic product even though investors said a resolution to Europe's debt crisis was more important.
"The data hasn't mattered for a couple of months. It matters here and there, but most of what today is, is Europe," said John Canally, investment strategist for LPL Financial in Boston.
"Just getting the details of this plan out there and making the details work is the most important thing," Canally said.
Stocks on Wall Street pared some early gains but shares in Europe rose almost 1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 110.92 points, or 0.97 percent, at 11,589.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 13.76 points, or 1.14 percent, at 1,217.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 32.18 points, or 1.23 percent, at 2,652.42.
Google shares jumped 5.8 percent to $591.43 after the Internet search giant said robust growth at its mobile business and a strong emerging market lifted its third quarter, allaying worries that a slowing Europe was hurting business. [ID:nN1E79B24M]
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top regional shares closed up 0.95 percent at 975.52 points, while MSCI's all-country world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 1.1 percent.
The increased appetite for risk also lifted the price of crude oil more than 3.0 percent and pushed down the U.S. dollar and government debt, usually beneficiaries of bearish news.
"The outlook is good and getting better by the day. Risk is back on," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.
Brent crude
Early hints that China may loosen credit as inflation cools also boosted gains while investors mostly ignored a preliminary reading of U.S. consumer sentiment that sagged to 57.5 from 59.4 in September, a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed.
November Brent crude
U.S. Treasury debt prices fell.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
Spot gold prices