Euro gains vs dlr on US stocks rise, ECB comment

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - The euro accelerated gains versus the dollar on Tuesday, helped by a rise on Wall Street and comments by a top European Central Bank official suggesting a foray into quantitative easing by the bank is not yet a done deal.

U.S. stocks were buoyed by better-than-expected U.S. confidence and housing data as well as a dividend increase at International Business Machines Corp. That trimmed demand for the U.S. dollar as a safe haven, boosting the euro.

The euro was also helped by remarks from ECB Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, who said on Tuesday that central banks must think about an exit strategy when they decide to employ non-standard policies to spur growth. See [ID:nLAG003399].

"Bini Smaghi's comments suggest that the debate is still ongoing and this raises the risks that no consensus is reached and that quantitative easing is not adopted. And we're seeing the euro turn better bid as a result," said a Forex.com analyst at Bedminster, New Jersey.

The euro rose to session highs at $1.3113 EUR=, and was last at $1.3107, up 0.7 percent on the day. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Leslie Adler)