* S&P and Dow erase earlier losses on tech, telecom sectors
* Sterling tumbles as poor U.K. data stoke recession worries
* Oil prices on track for weekly decline on supply concerns (Updates market action, adds quote)
By Richard Leong
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock prices rose on Friday, marking four straight weeks of gains, while sterling dropped on bleak data that raised fears about a possible British recession following the country's June 23 vote to leave the European Union.
Concerns about global oversupply hurt oil prices, putting them on track for weekly losses. and gold prices fell on expectations the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by year-end following the recent batch of encouraging U.S. economic data.
"Earnings have been positive for the most part. You have a strong package of data that have been constructive on the equity market, pushing up bond yields and even taking some shine off gold's recent strong performance," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU).
The key U.S. S&P and Dow equity indexes reversed earlier losses, edging towards record highs they hit earlier this week, on renewed strength in the tech and telecom sectors and a stronger-than-expected report on manufacturing. The S&P and Dow had fallen earlier on disappointing news from companies like General Electric (NYSE:GE) GE.N and Honeywell HON.N .
In late U.S. trading, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 50.95 points, or 0.28 percent, at 18,568.18, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 9.67 points, or 0.45 percent, at 2,174.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 25.59 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,099.49.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 ended little changed at 1,344.11, paring earlier losses linked to lower mining shares and Swedish construction from Skanska SKAb.ST . Nikkei .N225 closed down 1.1 percent.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose 0.3 points or 0.07 percent, to 412.73.
Among major currencies, sterling booked the biggest daily move, losing nearly 1 percent to $1.3105 GBP=D4 on a dramatic deterioration in British data on manufacturing and services activity in July.
These purchasing managers' figures were consistent with a broader 0.4-percent British economic contraction in the third quarter, pushing up the probability of a recession. euro weakened further on news that gunmen attacked a shopping mall in Munich, Germany. It was down 0.5 percent at $1.0967. dollar index .DXY was up 0.4 percent at 97.410.
The fallout from the Brexit decision is expected to dominate discussions at a weekend meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Chengdu, China. solid readings on the U.S. economy have revived bets the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by year-end. That put pressure on gold prices and core government bond yields. 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose almost 1 basis point at 1.571 percent, while 10-year German bond yields were flat at -0.1 percent EU10YT=RR .
Spot gold prices XAU= fell $6.79 or 0.51 percent, to $1,323.91 an ounce.
The U.S. central bank will hold a policy meeting next week where policy-makers are widely expected to keep rates steady.
In the oil market, Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 51 cents or 1.1 percent at $45.49 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 56 cents or 1.25 percent at $44.19 a barrel.