GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks inch up; euro drops vs Swiss franc

* U.S. stocks edge up in rebound, U.S. oil down, Brent up

* Euro falls vs Swiss franc; gold weakens from 3-week high

* Disappointing data, euro-zone worries weigh (Updates prices, details)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, May 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday in a rebound from recent losses while oil fell and the euro hit a record low against the Swiss franc on renewed euro zone debt concerns.

Technology shares led gains on Wall Street, which has been pressured along with other risky assets by worries of a slowdown in economic growth.

Bond prices were higher, while gold prices fell.

Comments from the president of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, raised doubts over a disbursement by the International Monetary fund of financial support to Greece in June and added to recent market jitters about debt problems in the euro zone.

Disappointing U.S. economic data weighed on oil and on stocks earlier in the day.

The U.S. government on Thursday kept its estimate of first-quarter economic growth unchanged at 1.8 percent after economists had forecast an upward revision from the government's initial estimate. A surprise rise in weekly jobless claims added to the latest batch of disappointing U.S. data. For details, see [ID:nN26233734]

The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to 424,000 last week.

But stocks brushed aside those worries, turning higher in afternoon trading.

"It speaks to the internal strength of the market that people think the internal momentum hasn't been broken yet," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.

Stocks have struggled in recent weeks to extend its latest rally that began in September. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> has gained 27 percent since the start of September.

For the day, the S&P 500 was up 4.51 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,324.98, while the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 20.43 points, or 0.16 percent, at 12,415.09 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 18.10 points, or 0.66 percent, at 2,779.48.

The MSCI Latin American index <.MILA00000PUS> rose 0.46 percent, adding to gains this week that have pulled it nearly 2 percent off an eight-month low reached on Monday. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> ended down 0.07 percent.

The euro fell as low as 1.2235 Swiss francs, according to electronic trading platform EBS .

"There's so much uncertainty. It's going to be hard for the euro to move much higher," said Ronald Simpson, director of currency research at Action Economics in Tampa, Florida. "It continues to be sold on even modest upticks."

Against the U.S. dollar, the euro was last at $1.4094, up 0.1 percent , helped by a news report that suggests Asia is willing to help ease Europe's debt woes.

The Financial Times quoted the head of the European Financial Stability Facility as saying China and other Asian investors were expected to buy a "strong proportion" of Portuguese bailout bonds when the euro zone's rescue fund starts auctioning them next month. See [ID:nL3E7GQ04U]

The U.S. dollar <.DXY> was down 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were up 13/32 higher in price to yield 3.080 percent.

In the oil market, U.S. crude oil pared early losses but was still down 85 cents at $100.47 while Brent crude was up 35 cents at $115.28.

Spot gold trimmed its decline to $1,521.20 an ounce, from the two-day low at $1,515.16 hit earlier.

Tokyo's Nikkei <.N225> closed 1.5 percent higher, following Tuesday's in U.S. and European equities. (Additional reporting by Richard Leong, Ryan Vlastelica and Wanfeng Zhou in New York; Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City; and Natsuko Waki and Jessica Mortimer in London; Editing by Leslie Adler)