* Global equities slide on renewed Greece debt jitters
* Euro eases to more than one-week low, GDP also weighs
* Oil slips from 18-month high as dollar strengthens
* Long-dated Treasuries rise slightly before auction
(Updates with close of European markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Global stocks fell and the
euro eased on Wednesday as worries about Greece's fiscal woes
festered and investors reeled in their risk appetite after a
recent run-up in prices.
Crude oil slipped from 18-month highs around $87 a barrel
after six straight sessions of gains as the dollar strengthened
broadly, and copper retreated from Tuesday's 20-month high. For
details see: [] []
The spread between Greek government bond yields versus
German Bunds blew out to record levels as skepticism over
Greece's ability to fund its debt at current levels refused to
fade. []
A downward revision to euro zone economic growth to zero
from a previous reading of growth of 0.1 percent highlighted
the fragility of the recovery in Europe, helping push global
stocks down and adding to the gloom caused by Greece's nagging
debt problems.
"The political willingness in Greece appears to be low for
taking the measures they announced and putting them into
reality," said Niels From, chief analyst at Nordea in
Copenhagen.
MSCI's all-country world index of global equities
<.MIWD00000PUS> was off 0.1 percent, a decline that was offset
somewhat by rising emerging market shares <.MSCIEF>.
Before 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <> was
down 39.45 points, or 0.36 percent, at 10,930.54. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 3.21 points, or 0.27
percent, at 1,186.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was
down 0.85 points, or 0.03 percent, at 2,435.96
Energy shares fell with the drop in crude oil prices.
Sentiment was further dented by news that Greek banks have
asked the government for more financial support, highlighting
the problems facing Greece, whose economy is expected to
contract by at least 2 percent this year. []
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares fell 0.3 percent to close at 1,098.16 points, after
hitting an 18-month closing high for the second straight
session on Tuesday.
Banking shares were among the biggest drags on the index.
Greek banks <.FTATBNK> lost 4.2 percent.
The euro dropped against the dollar to its lowest in more
than a week, down 0.36 percent at $1.335.
"The GDP data, even though it is backward-looking, shows
the euro zone is in a difficult situation. The outlook is
negative overall for the euro," said Antje Praefcke, currency
strategist at Commerzbank.
Greek concerns resurfaced on reports that Greece wanted to
renegotiate a deal reached last month over joint European
Union-International Monetary Fund aid. [] Greece
denied the reports.
The U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> was up 0.23 percent at 81.578,
while against the yen, the dollar <JPY=> was down 0.21 percent
at 93.55.
U.S. Treasury debt made modest gains ahead of an auction of
10-year notes after a sell-off late last week on improved
economic data that pushed yields up enough to attract buyers.
[]
Lingering concern about Greece also revived the appeal of
safe-haven U.S. government debt. Longer-dated debt prices
ealier in the session were slightly lower.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> rose
7/32 in price, pushing the yield down to 3.93 percent.
Oil eased off of recent highs, after a U.S. government oil
inventory report showed crude stockpiles rose last week more
than forecast. The U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported commercial crude oil stocks rose 2.0 million barrels
in the week to April 2, above expectations that stocks would be
up 1.8 million barrels. []
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell 43 cents to $86.41 a
barrel.
"We think the current rally in crude, although still
looking formidable on the charts, is getting long in the tooth,
and due for a modest pullback, especially if the dollar regains
its strength in the wake of continued euro zone jitters," said
Edward Meir, senior commodities analysts at brokers MF Global.
Gold rose to a five-week high, near record levels in euro
terms, on strong physical demand and as investors, worried by
the outlook for the euro-zone economy, flocked into hard
assets. []
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $17.05 to $1,150.70 an ounce.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Wanfeng Zhou, Ellen Freilich in
New York; Brian Gorman, Christopher Johnson, Rebekah Curtis and
William James in London; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by
Leslie Adler)
