* Copper hits all-time highs on Chinese demand
* MSCI world equity index up 0.4 pct at 343.25
* Euro hits 3-week low on WestLB woes; oil volatile
(Updates prices, adds details)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - World stocks climbed toward
last week's 30-month high and copper surged to all-time peaks
on Monday after an unexpected jump in Chinese imports
underscored the country's strong appetite for raw materials.
The euro <EUR=EBS> dropped to a three-week low against the
dollar on concerns surrounding the fate of German lender
WestLB. Rising bond yields for indebted euro zone economies
added to worries about the single currency.
Copper for three-month delivery <CMCU3> on the London Metal
Exchange closed at $10,160, up from $9,961 a tonne on Friday,
after hitting a record high of $10,168.50 earlier. On New
York's COMEX metals exchange, benchmark copper <HGH1> traded
near record highs set last week.
Preliminary Chinese trade data showed copper imports jumped
a surprise 5.7 percent to 364,420 tonnes in January. For
details, see []
"The market's taken these numbers in a very bullish way,"
said Robin Bhar, an analyst at Credit Agricole. "China's
appetite is insatiable."
Used extensively in the power and construction sectors,
copper has surged more than 60 percent since last June. Robust
demand from emerging nations and limited supply could lead to
further gains, analysts said.
Talk of slower-than-expected Chinese inflation also helped
ease worries about policy tightening and slowing growth,
boosting stock prices worldwide. The official data will be
announced on Tuesday. <ECONCN> []
But analysts cautioned against concluding that Beijing
would waver in its campaign to tighten policy further, given
the continued increases in global commodity prices and the
still-ample pool of excess cash in the economy.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 0.4
percent, having hit its highest level since August 2008 last
week. Thomson Reuters global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> gained
0.5 percent.
In the United States, the S&P and Nasdaq <> <.SPX>
ticked higher, though persistently below-average volume
suggested that investor enthusiasm was waning after gains
carried stocks to 2 1/2-year highs last week.
Financial markets showed a muted reaction to President
Barack Obama's budget proposal that would cut the U.S. deficit
by $1.1 trillion over 10 years and set the stage for a bitter
fight with Republicans who want tougher spending controls. See
[]
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China's trade surplus http://link.reuters.com/weh97r
GDP of G3 economies http://link.reuters.com/dac97r
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EU MEETING
The euro <EUR=EBS> dropped for a third straight day against
the dollar, breaking below a crucial 100-day moving average at
$1.3543 on electronic platform EBS as a European finance
ministers meeting yielded little progress in addressing the
region's fiscal problems.
European finance ministers assessed ways of strengthening
their 440 billion euro rescue fund, but Germany remained
reluctant to bolster the facility known as the EFSF without
commitments on closer economic coordination.
"We have some serious questions over what's going to happen
with the EU meeting this week and whether or not they will come
to any kind of conclusion on the EFSF," said Andrew Busch,
global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital
Markets in Chicago.
The euro also came under pressure after sources told
Reuters that German financial regulator BaFin is involved in
talks about the restructuring of WestLB as the bank struggles
to come up with a rescue deal. []
Weakness in the euro helped push the U.S. dollar index,
which measures the greenback against a basket of major
currencies, to a three-week high of 78.873 <.DXY>.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,177.86, its highest close
since early September 2008.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> fell into negative territory after
earlier rising above $86 a barrel, pressured by high domestic
inventories as the dollar strengthened. Concerns about
political uncertainty in the Middle East pushed prices of
safe-haven gold <XAU=> higher.
U.S. Treasury prices were little changed with benchmark
yields holding below recent highs as investors awaited data
later in the week to gauge the state of the economy and how far
yields may need to rise to account for growth.
Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> added 1.4 percent measured by the
Morgan Stanley Capital index. Shanghai stocks <> hit an
eight-week high, scoring the index's biggest single-day
percentage gain since mid-December.
(Additional reporting Julie Haviv in New York and Natsuko Waki
in London; Editing by Dan Grebler)
