* MSCI world equity index up 0.27 pct at 208.70
* U.S. stocks indicate higher open, European stocks slip
* Oil rallies over $1 a barrel, copper surges
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Stock futures indicated a
higher Wall Street open and oil and emerging assets rallied on
Thursday as investors looked beyond dire fourth quarter U.S. GDP
data for signs of recovery in the global economy.
The U.S. economy contracted by an annual rate of 6.3 percent
in the fourth quarter, data showed on Thursday, while weekly
jobless claims hit a record high.
The data took the shine off strong figures this week on
durable goods orders and new house sales, but investors are
looking forward to the possibility of recovery, rather than
focusing on backward-looking data.
"I think people realise the economy seemingly fell off the
cliff in the fourth quarter and continued in the first quarter
this year," said Doug Bender, managing director, McQueen, Ball &
Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
"The question now is will you see a moderation in bad news?"
U.S. stock futures <SPc1><DJc1> fell briefly on the data
before returning to indicate a higher open on Wall Street and
global stocks <.MIWD0000PUS> were up 0.4 percent at 208.86.
Markets have been in a buoyant mood this week following a
U.S. plan to persuade private firms to help rid banks of up to
$1 trillion in toxic assets.
"We are seeing some optimism, we are seeing some return of
appetite, both of which we have not seen for a while," said Mike
Wittner, Societe Generale's global head of oil research.
The renewed optimism fed into demand for riskier assets.
Asian equities <.MIAPJ0000PUS> and global emerging equities
<.MSCIEF> hit 11-week highs, and emerging sovereign debt spreads
<11EMJ> were trading around their narrowest since November.
Oil rose $1.16 cents a barrel to $53.93 <CLc1> and other
commodities also rallied, with copper <MCU3> surging 3 percent.
But European shares trimmed early gains after a five-day
rally, as investors remained worried about the health of the
financial sector.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
fell 0.3 percent to 741.72.
The U.S. dollar stabilised against major currencies after
tumbling on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner said he was open to expanding the use of the
International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights, appearing
to endorse an idea put forward by China.
The U.S. currency recovered after Geithner reiterated that
he expected the currency to remain the top reserve currency for
a long time.
The dollar was down around 0.40 percent against the euro at
$1.3634 <EUR=>, losing some ground on the U.S. GDP data, but was
around 0.52 percent higher against the yen at 98.09 <JPY=>.
U.S. Treasuries rose after the U.S. data, making up
territory recently lost on a return of risk appetite and worries
about oversupply in debt markets.
U.S. 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> turned flat, while
June Bund futures <FGBLc1> pared losses to trade down 8 ticks at
122.94.
(Additional reporting by Ikuko Kao, editing by Mike Peacock)
