* Stocks rally on earnings, outlooks; Dow near 3-yr high
* Australian dollar hits post-float high vs dollar
* Gold touches an all-time high above $1,500/ounce (Updates with market close)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Major stock markets rose sharply on Wednesday after strong corporate earnings in both the United States and Europe, while gold jumped to record highs above $1,500 an ounce in a broad commodities rally.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar and a well-received bond auction from Spain pushed the euro to its highest in 15 months. Currencies that benefit from higher commodity prices outperformed, with the Australian dollar at a post-float high and the Canadian dollar hitting a 3-1/2-year high.
Upbeat profits and outlooks from companies including chipmaker Intel bolstered economic optimism and offset concerns of sovereign debt problems on both sides of the Atlantic.
"It isn't just the good reports, but also the encouraging comments about how things look for the remainder of the year," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.
"This is a testament to the strength of earnings we can expect to come out from here," added Luschini, who helps oversee $53 billion and owns Intel shares.
World equities, as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index <.MIWD00000PUS> advanced 2.1 percent, extending the previous session's 0.5 percent rise and further recovering from Monday's 1.6 percent loss.
Intel
U.S. stocks posted their best day in a month, lifting the Dow industrials to the highest in almost three years.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 186.79 points, or 1.52 percent, to end at 12,453.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 17.74 points, or 1.35 percent, to finish at 1,330.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 57.54 points, or 2.10 percent, to close at 2,802.51.
Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> ended up 1.76 percent, snapping a three-day losing run. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> rose 1.9 percent to close at a one-week high. Emerging market stocks <.MSCIEF> climbed 2.6 percent.
Societe Generale, however, said in a note that hedge funds were cautious on U.S. equities, keeping short positions on the S&P 500 <.SPX> and the Russell 2000 <.RUT>, though they were net long on Japanese equities. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Asset returns in 2011:http://r.reuters.com/zub29r
Inflation-adjusted vs. nominal gold price:
http://r.reuters.com/ren88r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
DEBT WORRIES
Gold
Renewed pressure on Greece to explore a debt restructuring has rattled peripheral debt markets in recent sessions, pushing Greek and Portuguese bond yields to new highs. [ID:nLDE73J0AT]
Yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds
The euro rose 1.3 percent versus the dollar to $1.4518
"All in all, relatively reassuring results providing no indication Spain's decoupling from the periphery is under immediate threat. That said, the risk of contagion has certainly not been taken off the table," said Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank.
Higher-yielding currencies rose. The Australian dollar
Against a basket of major currencies <.DXY>, the U.S. dollar fell 0.9 percent to 74.328.
The soft dollar boosted commodities, with copper