* Stocks bounce on China and bank rules pact
* Wall Street on track for fourth straight winning session
* Dollar slumps and euro up 1.6 percent (Updates U.S. trading, changes dateline to New York)
By Al Yoon
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - World stocks surged to a one-month high on Monday, driven by robust economic news from China and relief that new global bank rules would not mean a rush to raise billions of dollars in extra capital.
The dollar headed for its biggest daily slide against the euro in two months as the Chinese data bolstered the appetite for risk and drove up currencies of countries like Australia that are big sellers to China.
The banking and economic news assuaged some concerns of stuttering economic growth and the health of the global financial sector.
Crude oil prices hit a one-month high and copper rallied as the Chinese data raised hopes for demand. China is the world's largest consumer of copper and the second largest energy consumer.
"There's no doubt that risk appetite has returned, and the strong Chinese data reduces the risk of a global double-dip recession," said Matthew Strauss, senior strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
Asia emerging market growth has been a major fillip to the rest of the world this year, making up for a somewhat moribund U.S. economic performance. China on Saturday reported that factories increased production by 13.9 percent in August, and money growth also sped up and easily topped analysts' expectations. [ID:nTOE68A00H]
That was part of a mixed, but generally growth-positive message showing the Chinese economy remained buoyant despite Beijing's efforts to clamp down on bank lending and property speculation.
World stocks as measured by both MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> and Thomson Reuters <.TRXFLDGLPU> climbed more than 1.3 percent to the highest since Aug. 10. The MSCI emerging market benchmark <.MSCIEF> rose nearly 2 percent at a 4-1/2 month high.
U.S. indexes were headed for a fourth straight winning session and the eighth day of gains out of nine for the S&P 500 and Dow.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 48.43 points, or 0.46 percent, to 10,511.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> climbed 8.77 points, or 0.79 percent, to 1,118.32 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> jumped 31.73 points, or 1.41 percent, to 2,274.21.
Banking and materials shares were among top gainers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> gained 0.64 percent to 1,087.97 points, the highest close in more than four months.
"The good economic news out of China is leading to some renewed optimism on the economic front," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
"This appears to be spurring a renewed interest in equities as investors start recognizing a recently neglected asset class that's offering a value element."
The agreement by global regulators on new capital requirements for banks, known as Basel III, eased fears that lenders would have to raise capital over the next year or so. The rules will demand banks hold top-quality capital totaling 7 percent, against the present requirement of 2 percent, but provide for a long phase-in period. [ID:nLDE68C0D3]
In Europe, shares of Credit Agricole
In New York, the KBW bank indeex <.BKX> rose 2.6 percent.
In addition, the European Commission almost doubled its growth forecast for the euro zone this year. It said it expected the economies of the 16 countries using the euro to grow 1.7 percent this year, up from a forecast of 0.9 percent growth in May and a 4.1 percent contraction in 2009.
Another technology sector acquisition added to the positive tone in the United States..
Hewlett-Packard Co
Japan's Nikkei <.N225> closed up 0.9 percent.
DOLLAR DOWN
The news on China and bank rules helped drive the euro
above $1.28 -- it fell below $1.26 in late August -- leaving it
on track for its best daily gain since July 15. The
high-yielding Australian dollar reached a five-month peak of
$0.9362
The euro rose 1.6 percent against the dollar to $1.2877.
"Better risk appetite is putting the dollar under pressure and the euro and currencies like the Australian dollar have been holding up very well," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen.
The dollar fell 1 percent against a basket of major currencies <.DXY>. The currency tends to get hit when investors buy riskier and therefore higher-yielding assets.
But even as the euro rose on renewed risk appetite,
analysts said longer-term worries remain about U.S. growth and
the health of the euro zone banking sector. That pushed the
dollar down 1 percent to 1.0088 Swiss francs
The dollar lost 0.71 percent against the yen, to 83.56 yen. The yen is also a traditional safe haven.
In government debt, U.S. Treasuries rose on bargain-hunting. Treasuries had fallen seven out of past eight sessions, as they have been deemed overvalued due to intense buying on fears of deflation and a double-dip recession.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields fell 0.05 percentage point to 2.75 percent.
In commodities, U.S. light sweet crude oil
Gold