* Copper hits all-time highs on Chinese demand
* MSCI world equity index up 0.5 pct at 343.40
* Euro falls to 3-week low on WestLB woes; oil ends lower
(Updates with U.S. stock market closing, adds quote, updates
prices)
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 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 currency.
London Metal Exchange (LME) copper for three-month delivery
<CMCU3> hit a record $10,170.25 per tonne in after-hours trade,
having closed up $199 at $10,160, matching the previous high.
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. The
volume, which was up 24.7 percent from January 2010, was the
highest since September. For details, see []
"It could very well be that the Chinese economy is running
hotter than anyone thinks," said Bart Melek, vice president and
director of commodities with TD Bank Financial Group. Copper is
often viewed as a barometer for the global economy due to its
extensive use in the construction and power sectors.
Talk of slower-than-expected Chinese inflation in January
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 0.5
percent, having hit its highest level since August 2008 last
week. The Thomson Reuters global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> also
gained 0.5 percent.
U.S. stocks <> <> <.SPX> ended little changed in
the lowest volume so far this year. European shares closed at a
29-month high <>, while Shanghai stocks <> hit an
eight-week high.
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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To visit Reuters Insider's "United States of Distress"
microsite, please double-click: http://link.reuters.com/jyg97r
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 against the dollar for a third
day, breaking below a crucial 100-day moving average at $1.3543
on electronic platform EBS as a European finance ministers
meeting yielded little progress on 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>.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLH1> ended lower for a second
straight session, weighed down by high domestic inventories,
but gold futures <GCJ1> closed higher on fears that Egypt's
unrest could spread across the Arab world.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury debt prices rose with benchmark
yields holding just under 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.
(Additional reporting Chris Reese, Angela Moon, Frank Tang,
Julie Haviv and Chris Kelly in New York and Rebekah Curtis in
London; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
