GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks firm on optimism for US, Greek recovery

* World stocks upbeat after last week's US jobs data rally

* Dollar weaker on eased concerns of Greek fiscal woes

* U.S. bonds softer ahead of auction

(Updates with U.S. markets open, changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON)

By Manuela Badawy

NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - World stocks were at their highest in six weeks on Monday on improved confidence in the U.S. economy, while the U.S. dollar was weaker as concerns over Greece's fiscal problems eased.

European shares were slightly lower as pharmaceutical stocks were hit, but investors were soothed by easing concerns about the debt situation in Greece and other peripheral euro zone economies, as well as Friday's data showing U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was down 0.3 percent at 1,054.86 points. The index hit a six-week high on Friday and is up 63 percent since hitting a record low last March.

U.S. stocks opened flat after last week's rally that saw the Nasdaq close at an 18-month high on encouraging jobs data.

"The momentum is certainly in favor of the bulls right now, but upside seems somewhat limited, given how much we've come up recently," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 1.67 points, or 0.02 percent, at 10,564.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.10 points, or 0.01 percent, at 1,138.60, while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.88 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,328.23.

Worries about Greece's indebtedness eased after a series of weekend comments by politicians and policymakers, which helped the euro recoup some of its losses.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised on Sunday that euro zone countries would help Greece if its financial problems worsened and vowed a crackdown on market speculators. [ID:nPAB008209]

In early morning New York trade, the euro <EUR=> was up 0.3 percent at $1.3660. The dollar index <.DXY>, a non-traded calculation of the dollar's performance against a basket of currencies, was 0.14 percent lower at 80.317.

"Greece has been a big negative, which now has receded," said Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "In the short run, it's consolidation mode, which is dollar negative."

Against the yen, the euro rose 0.3 percent to 123.34 yen <EURJPY=>, having hit a two-week high earlier on Monday.

Crude oil <CLc1> prices rose 0.4 percent to $81.82 a barrel and copper <CMCU3> traded higher at $7,580 a tonne as the metal's inventory fell while the jobs data boosted hopes of stronger economic recovery in the United States.

Prices of U.S. government securities fell as investors prepared to absorb $154 billion in bills and coupons scheduled to be auctioned this week. [ID:nN08234895]

Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> traded 8/32 lower in price to yield 3.72 percent, up from a close of 3.69 on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei <.N225> gained more than 2 percent to close at a 6-week high.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica and Nick Olivari in New York, and Jeremy Gaunt and Atul Prakash in London, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)