* World stock index just above flat
* JPMorgan results in focus after strong Intel numbers
* Tepid U.S. data caps gains
* Dollar and yen up, euro languishes
(Updates throughout, changes byline, dateline)
By Sujata Rao
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Persistent worries over the world
economy, fuelled by tepid U.S. data and a relatively lacklustre
start to the earnings season, kept a lid on equity gains on
Friday, boosting safe-haven trades like the dollar and yen.
Growing jitters over the struggling Greek economy are
weighing on the euro zone, with the single currency down almost
one percent versus the dollar while the uncertain U.S. economic
picture saw oil prices falling for the fifth day in a row.
Upbeat earnings from chipmaker Intel Corp <INTC.O> gave an
initial leg-up to share prices -- with Asian tech-heavy bourses
like Seoul seeing strong gains -- but the momentum petered out
as doubts about the strength of the U.S. recovery weighed.
By 0930 GMT, world stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> were just above
flat, staying off 15-month highs hit earlier in the week.
Earlier Japan's Nikkei <> closed at a 15-month high, thanks
to gains for tech firms like chipmaker Tokyo Electron <8035.T>.
European stock markets opened firmer on back of the Intel
results, extending their winning streak to three sessions.
The FTSEurofirst <> index of top European shares rose
0.6 percent, with banks accounting for most of the gains. HSBC
<HSBA.L>, Santander <SAN.MC> and Deutsche <DBKGn.DE> rose up to
1.4 percent on hopes of good news from investment bank JPMorgan
<JPM.N> when it reports fourth quarter earnings at 1200 GMT.
"Results will dominate the newsflow and I would expect good
numbers, but there will be little share price reaction unless
companies increase expectations for the outlook, which they have
little incentive to do," said Lars Kreckel, strategist at Exane
BNP Paribas in London.
Reflecting these worries, U.S. stock futures <SPc1> slipped
0.2 percent. Wall Street closed only marginally higher on
Thursday, weighed down by weak U.S. retail sales data and a rise
in jobless claims [] [].
Corporate earnings alone will not lift markets for long,
said Geoff Lewis, head of investment services at JP Morgan Asset
Mangement in Hong Kong.
"You still have to see continued good news on the economic
front to validate improvements in corporate earnings forecasts,"
said. "Markets will want to see evidence of strength in private
sector demand ... it's important the economy stand on its feet
after the public fiscal stimulus starts to fade."
Investors now await U.S. CPI and manufacturing data due at
1330 GMT and 1415 GMT respectively.
DOLLAR, YEN, BONDS GAIN
With investors reluctant to take on too much risk, the U.S.
dollar <.DXY> and yen <JPY=> rose.
Against a currency basket, the dollar <.DXY> rose half a
percent to 77.115 but against the yen <JPY=> it fell 0.4 percent
to 90.66 yen, its lowest in nearly four weeks.
The euro <EURJPY=R> traded at a four-week low versus yen,
down 1.2 percent.
The single currency is taking a hit from Greece. Its
weakness has deepened after comments on Thursday by European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet who warned Europe
faced a "major debt problem" and that no government could expect
"special treatment" from the ECB.
"If we see strong U.S. data later today, the dollar will
rise, if it's weak the euro will rise. It's a fairly reactionary
market today," said Peter Frank, currency strategist at Societe
Generale in London.
U.S. Treasuries were up, soothed by a solid auction of
30-year bills on Thursday.
Oil <CLc1> however weakened and was set for its first weekly
drop in more than a month.
(Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Simon Falush in
London; Umesh Desai in Hong Kong, editing by Mike Peacock)
(To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope
Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope; for Hedge
Hub click on http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub)
