* Progress at Japan nuclear plants lifts risk appetite
* Deutsche Telekom soars on proposed deal with AT&T
* Oil up after Western forces strike Libya again
* Euro touches $1.42 on rate hike expectations (Updates prices, changes quotes)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - Stocks rose across the globe on Monday as risk appetite returned following progress in resolving Japan's nuclear crisis while the yen slid on speculation of more central bank intervention.
Oil prices rose but were off the session's highs after Western forces launched a second wave of air strikes on Libya.
U.S. stocks rose more than 1.5 percent as investors
welcomed AT&T's
Deutsche Telekom AG
"The fact that companies are confident to do big deals gets people thinking that the environment may not be too bad, that there is liquidity out there in the market. It opens doors for other, larger M&A deals," said John Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.
The gains in U.S. stocks follow a second straight week of losses over concern about unrest in oil-producing northern Africa and the Middle East. Japan's earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing nuclear crisis deepened investors' concerns about the global economy's ability to continue its recovery.
"More incrementally positive news from Japan in terms of the nuclear situation is helping the market," Canally said.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares was up 1.6 percent at 1455 GMT and the MSCI world share index <.MIWD00000PUS> jumped 1.4 percent, its largest daily gain in seven weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 188.87 points, or 1.59 percent, to 12,047.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> climbed 19.06 points, or 1.49 percent, to 1,298.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 50.14 points, or 1.90 percent, to 2,693.81.
Engineers rigged power cables to all six reactors at Japan's Fukushima complex and started a water pump at one of them to reverse the overheating that has triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. For details, see [ID:nL3E7EK08V]
Japan's markets were closed for a holiday on Monday but the MSCI index of Asian stocks outside of Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 1.4 percent.
The yen added to losses, with speculators wary of more
coordinated action by the Group of Seven countries. The dollar
rose 0.5 percent for the day to 81.13 yen
The G7 acted after the yen jumped to a post-World War Two record high of 76.25 yen to the dollar last Thursday. More is expected to come if it climbs again.
The euro briefly rose above $1.42 against the U.S. dollar for the first time since November before trading near break-even, as markets braced for a euro zone interest rate hike as soon as next month.
Brent crude for May
Libya Graphics
http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
Japan disaster in figures
http://r.reuters.com/ser58r
Japan disaster Top News page
[nTOPNOW4]
Picture, graphic packages:
http://r.reuters.com/wyb58r
Brent crude prices have risen nearly 22 percent this quarter and the social unrest in North Africa and the oil-producing Gulf provide enough uncertainty to keep prices buoyed.
"The key is really how Saudi (Arabia) and Iran play out. Cool heads need to prevail. It's contained at the moment, but if things worsen, you see a Mideast premium very quickly," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services.
U.S. Treasuries prices extended losses after the Treasury said it will begin to sell $142 billion of its agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities.
Benchmark 10-year notes
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http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub (Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou, Angela Moon, Karen Brettell, Ian Chua, Joanne Frearson, Blaise Robinson, Alejandro Barbajosa and Anirban Nag; Editing by Kenneth Barry)