* Apple reports blockbuster sales, far above estimates
* Obama signals progress in U.S. debt settlement talks
* Euro rises again on hopes ahead of EU debt crisis summit (Updates market action; changes dateline, previous London)
By Richard Leong
NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - World stocks rose on Wednesday on strong earning results and hopes for an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling, while the euro climbed on guarded optimism that an accord to avert a Greek default would be reached.
Gold
U.S. President Barack Obama suggested on Tuesday that progress was being made toward a $3.75 trillion deficit reduction deal. This reduced fears that lawmakers may fail to lift the statutory $14.3 trillion federal borrowing limit and cause the United States to default and to lose its top-notch ratings from rating agencies. [ID:nN1E76H1Y0]
In Europe, French ministers on Wednesday said that European leaders were less divided than the media was reporting and were likely to reach an accord at a summit in Brussels on Thursday that will ease Greece's debt woes. [ID:nLDE76J0CA]
While these debt developments provided a positive backdrop for stocks and growth-oriented investments, encouraging company results have been the catalyst for the rally in global stocks markets in the past 24 hours.
"Just about everyone who has reported results has beaten expectations, and that's enough to offset the global macro headwinds that are out there," said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Apple
U.S. stocks edged lower on Wednesday, losing steam a day
after Wall Street posted its best day since March, although
strong earnings from Apple Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 6.73 points, or 0.05 percent, at 12,580.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.90 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,327.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 3.44 points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,823.08.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> gained around 1 percent, cutting its year-to-date losses to around 3 percent.
Earlier, Japanese stocks marked their biggest daily rise in three weeks. The Nikkei <.N225> closed up 1.2 percent.
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIDW00000PUS> were up 0.5 percent.
In the currency market, the euro
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Jeremy Gaunt, Jessica Mortimer and Jan Harvey in London) (Writing by Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)