GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks tumble, yen up as US housing dives

                                
  
                                
 * Global recovery fears send stocks tumbling; boosts bonds
                                
 * U.S. housing data falls short of bearish projections
                                
 * Euro hits six-week low vs dlr, nine-year trough vs yen
                                
 By Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Al Yoon
                                
 LONDON/NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - World stocks dropped to
one-month lows on Tuesday and the yen hit a 15-year high as
investors jumped out of risky assets and into safe havens on
further signs of anaemic economic recovery.
                                
 Pessimism about the global recovery has grown infectious in
recent weeks and was affirmed on Tuesday by a report showing
U.S. home sales slid more than expected to their slowest place
in 15 years. [nN24196313].
                                
 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans
said he was concerned about the strength of recovery in the
U.S., though a return to recession was unlikely.
                                
 "The wheels are coming off the recovery," said Keith
Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services in
Sacramento, California.
                                
 Earlier, a Bank of England policymaker said the UK risked
sliding back into recession, adding to broader risk aversion.
The comments drove 10-year British government bond yields near
record lows and 30-year German Bund yields to all-time troughs
as investors sought refuge in government debt. Bond yields move
inversely to prices.
                                
 In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI>
slumped 124.80 points, or 1.23 percent, to 10,049.61. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 14.64 points, or 1.37
percent, to 1,052.72 and the Nasdaq Composite Index  <.IXIC>
slid 33.83 points, or 1.57 percent, to 2,125.80.
                                
 The bearish tone deepened after the U.S. housing report. It
showed July sales of existing homes dropped a record 27.2
percent from June to an annual rate of 3.83 million units.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected sales would fall 12 percent
to 4.7 million, in part due to expiration of tax credits.
                                
 "The problem that pushed us into recession to some degree
still remains: There's still imbalance in the housing market,
said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities
International in New York. "Even after four years of declines,
housing remains the key threat to the (economic) recovery."
                                
 Major European shares <.FTEU3> shed more than 2 percent,
and the MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 1.2
percent to its lowest since July 20. The Thomson Reuters global
stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> was also 1.2 percent lower.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> fell 1.3 percent, dipping
below the closely watched 9,000 mark for the first time in 15
months, pressured by selling from hedge funds and foreigners.
                                
 The Nikkei index has shed nearly 15 percent so far this
year, compared to a 2.6 percent fall in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan
index. The 9,000-9,100 range had been strong support for the
benchmark Nikkei since last year.
                                
 BUOYANT YEN
                                
 The yen reached a new 15-year high against the dollar and a
nine-year peak against the euro on fears the global economy was
slowing. The yen was also helped as Japanese Finance Minister
Yoshihiko Noda resisted market pressure to comment on currency
intervention. [ID:nTOE67N066]
                                
 The dollar <JPY=> fell as low as 83.57 yen. It was last
trading at 83.86, for a loss of 1.42 percent versus the yen.
                                
 "Unless the Japanese step in with something more
definitive, we will see speculative accounts drive the
dollar/yen down to 80 yen," said Paul Robson, RBS Global
Banking currency strategist. "That will hurt the Japanese
economy pretty hard, unless they do something more on the
fiscal side or resort to more quantitative easing."
                                
 Against the dollar, the euro rose 0.32 percent to 1.2698.
                                
 The scramble for less risky assets sent the 10-year and
30-year German Bund yields <DE10YT=TWEB> <DE30YT=TWEB> down
more than 0.1 percentage point to record lows at 2.17 percent
and 2.78 percent respectively.
                                
 Benchmark 10-year U.S. government yields declined 0.11
percentage point on the day to 2.49 percent <US10YT=RR>, the
lowest in about 17-months.
                                
 "The market is looking for any sign of weakness... 
There's so much bearishness around the U.S. economy at the
moment and that's casting a pall over equity markets and
helping government bonds," said Nick Stamenkovic, strategist at
RIA Capital Markets.
                                
 In commodities, U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell
$1.02, or 1.4 percent, to $72.08 per barrel, as doubts about
the ability of top oil consumer the United States to work
through record stocks weighed on sentiment.
                                
 Gold <XAU=> rose $8.50, or 0.69 percent, to $1231.90.
                                
 (Additional reporting by William James and Anirban Nag in
London and Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)