* 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 salesBy Herbert LashNEW 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.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 late Thursday that trounced analysts’ expectations, led investors to shrug off a rating downgrade on Spain by Standard & Poor’s and an unexpected slump in U.S. consumer confidence in October.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 was up 110.92 points, or 0.97 percent, at 11,589.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 13.76 points, or 1.14 percent, at 1,217.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index 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.In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top regional shares closed up 0.95 percent at 975.52 points, while MSCI’s all-country world equity index 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 rose above $114 a barrel, propelled by hopes that European leaders would soon agree on how to curtail the long festering euro zone debt crisis.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 Michigan survey showed.November Brent crude rose $3.56 to $114.67 a barrel on the day of its expiry, while U.S. crude was up $2.47 at $86.70 a barrel.U.S. Treasury debt prices fell.The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 13/32 in price to yield 2.23 percent.Spot gold prices rose $16.24 to $1,682.40 an ounce.

By Gyles BeckfordWELLINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Salvage teams raced on Friday to resume pumping oil from a stricken container ship which has almost split into two pieces off the New Zealand coast as businesses started to count the cost of the country’s worst environmental disaster in decades.The Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for nine days on a reef 14 miles (22 km) off Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, spilling about 300 tonnes of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea.Authorities said the 236-metre (775-foot) ship was in a precarious position, as salvage teams prepared to cut holes in the stern to get to the tanks holding more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel.”What’s holding the vessel together at the moment is the fact she’s lying on the reef and some internal structures, companionways, ducting and the like inside the vessel,” Maritime NZ spokesman Andrew Berry told a meeting of local residents.The salvage teams are working to install equipment and platforms on the high side of the aft section of the 47,230-tonne ship, which is listing at up to 25 degrees, so they have a level surface to work on.”There is some hope … they might be able to start pumping oil tomorrow, but we cannot pin time frames on things, that ship is very, very dangerous,” said Matthew Watson of the Svitzer salvage company.He said oil leaks from the ship have slowed and there was a “reasonable level of confidence” that the stern tanks are intact and would hold.Oil has washed up along about 60 km (37 miles) of the coast, which is popular with surfers and fishermen.Weather and sea conditions were favourable, but winds are expected to strengthen and may force the salvage workers off the ship, which has lost 88 of its 1,360 containers.WORKERS COLLECT OILAn estimated 1,000 white-suited workers, including soldiers, wildlife experts and residents, were on the beaches scraping and collecting clumps of the foul-smelling fuel oil cargo wreckage from the ship.More than 220 tonnes of waste, including oil and debris from the ship, have been cleared from the beaches.Residents said the beaches were looking cleaner as the winds were now blowing oil out to sea allowing clean up teams to make progress.”It’s much better than it has been, not that much oil is coming (on shore)and we seem to be getting on top of it,” said resident Liz Bridgeman.Authorities said more than 3,000 people had volunteered to help clean up the coast and teams were being trained to go where needed.Preparations have been made in the small town of Whakatane, about 80 km (50 miles) down the coast from Tauranga, should wind and currents push oil that far.Tourism businesses in the district, which is a holiday spot renowned for good surfing waves and big-game fishing, were reporting cancellations, and some were fearing for their survival.”Effectively, I think a lot of people will have to sell their business or go under,” said surf school operator, Bjorn Waling.The area’s chamber of commerce is working with government agencies on possible short-term subsidies and payments to affected businesses.The ship’s captain and second officer, both from the Philippines, have been charged and remanded on bail, accused of operating the ship in a dangerous manner.But the mayor of Tauranga dismissed an apology from the ship’s owners, Greece-based Costamare Shipping Inc.”It’s half an apology and a lot of excuse, no it’s not good enough, I’d like to see the ship’s owner come to Tauranga and stand up in front of our people,” Stuart Crosby said on TVNZ.

Syngenta, which has been able to raise crop protection prices 3 percent, said on Friday it had seen a good start to the Latin American season, with soybean growers in Brazil and Argentina increasing their investment.”For the full year we expect substantial top line growth, higher profitability at constant exchange rates and a significant increase in free cash flow,” chief executive Mike Mack said.Spiralling wheat, corn and soybean costs have been encouraging farmers to buy more products from Syngenta, and rivals such as DuPont and Monsanto, as they seek to boost yields and offset inflation.Earlier this month, Monsanto posted forecast-beating sales thanks to global growth in both corn and cotton sales.

The two technology firms have been locked in an acrimonious battle in nine countries involving smartphone and tablet patents since April, with the Australian dispute centering on touch-screen technology used in Samsung’s new Galaxy tablet.”I am satisfied that it is appropriate to grant an interim injunction, however I propose again the opportunity of an early final hearing on the issues presented in this application,” Justice Annabelle Bennett told the court.The Federal Court’s ban on sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet applies until it rules on the core patent issue in dispute, which could take months and force Samsung to miss the Christmas gift-giving season in Australia.Samsung has said that the product’s viability in the Australian market would be killed off if it missed Christmas.The Australian ruling follows Apple’s successfully legal move to block Samsung from selling its tablets in Germany and some smartphone models in the Netherlands. It comes ahead of important hearings in the United States and South Korea.Samsung has so far been reluctant to agree to an expedited Australian court hearing of the core patent dispute, despite the risk of missing out on Christmas sales, because it said it needs time to prepare a proper defense against Apple’s claims.

The two technology firms have been locked in an acrimonious battle in nine countries involving smartphone and tablet patents since April, with the Australian dispute centering on touch-screen technology used in Samsung’s new Galaxy tablet.”I am satisfied that it is appropriate to grant an interim injunction, however I propose again the opportunity of an early final hearing on the issues presented in this application,” Justice Annabelle Bennett told the court.The Federal Court’s ban on sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet applies until it rules on the core patent issue in dispute, which could take months and force Samsung to miss the Christmas gift-giving season in Australia.Samsung has said that the product’s viability in the Australian market would be killed off if it missed Christmas.The Australian ruling follows Apple’s successfully legal move to block Samsung from selling its tablets in Germany and some smartphone models in the Netherlands. It comes ahead of important hearings in the United States and South Korea.Samsung has so far been reluctant to agree to an expedited Australian court hearing of the core patent dispute, despite the risk of missing out on Christmas sales, because it said it needs time to prepare a proper defense against Apple’s claims.