* European shares track most Asian stocks higher
* News that China May exports up 50 pct helps risk appetite
* Euro stable vs dollar; eyes Thursday's ECB policy meeting
By Emelia Sithole-Matarise
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - European shares pushed higher on
Wednesday, tracking gains in most Asian equity markets, as news
of strong Chinese exports sparked a tentative return of appetite
for riskier assets while the euro stabilised on options demand.
Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel after Reuters reported
that Chinese exports grew 50 percent in May from a year earlier,
well above expectations for a 32 percent rise, in a sign that
the economy of the world's second-largest oil user was roaring
ahead. The official data is scheduled to be reported on
Thursday. []
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> was up 0.6
percent by 1030 GMT, ending three sessions of falls though gains
were tempered by lingering worries that the euro zone debt
crisis could erode economic growth.
"After three days down you get some relief and markets
pause, but the well known problems around the debt crisis are
still there and there's no relief from that," said Bernard
McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin.
"Markets want to see where the end-game for this crisis is
and the implication for the European banking system. They want
to see policy action that's more final and definitive than we've
seen so far," he said.
The gains in European equity markets and most Asian shares
propped up the MSCI's all-country world stock index
<.MIWD00000PUS> to trade 0.2 percent higher.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a marginally firmer open
on Wall Street after the report on robust Chinese exports.
The rebound in equities sapped demand for German government
bonds, the euro zone benchmark which has benefited from
flight-to-quality trades, with the 10-year Bund yield
<DE10YT=RR> adding one basis point to 2.544 percent.
ECB POLICY MOVES AWAITED
Options demand helped the euro <EUR=> hold steady against
the dollar around $1.1977 after initially rising to $1.1988
earlier after the Chinese exports report. But it remained near
four-year lows and analysts said the outlook for the single
currency was still grim.
European banks' overnight deposits with the European Central
Bank hit a record, highlighting jitters over the health of the
financial system.
An international bank source told Reuters on Wednesday the
European interbank market was not lending to smaller Spanish
banks, partly due to concerns the country could be heading for a
debt crisis along the lines of EU partner Greece.
Market access might ease if Spain's government announces
further austerity measures, the source said. []
"There's no relief bounce for the euro and still big
animosity towards the single currency," said Kenneth Broux,
market economist at Lloyds Banking Group.
Markets were also unsettled by conflicting signals from top
U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday on the direction of
interest rates, highlighting a split within the central bank as
the U.S. economy shows signs of slowing. []
Investors were also awaiting a European Central Bank meeting
on Thursday to see if it will announce fresh steps to ease
strains from the euro zone's debt crisis. []
The ECB is also expected to publish a new set of economic
forecasts for the region which are likely to signal somewhat
stronger activity, despite worries that debt problems and
government austerity measures will sharply brake growth.
"There are some who believe that the ECB may go as far as to
lower interest rates, although this view is not widely held,"
said a trader for a Japanese trust bank.
Risk-averse investors have streamed into gold, sending
prices for the precious metal to a record dollar high, on
persistent fears that the euro zone debt problems will spread.
"Markets hate uncertainty and at the moment you've got a lot
of it," said Peter Wright, a dealer at Burrell & Co in
Australia.
(Additional reporting by Sugita Katyal in Singapore, Neal
Armstrong and Harpreet Bhal in London)
(Editing by John Stonestreet)
