(Updates with U.S. opening trade)
* MSCI world equity index down 0.1 pct at 300.38
* Shares pause after one-year bull market anniversary
* Oil weakens; yen rises broadly
By Natsuko Waki and Al Yoon
LONDON/NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - World stocks edged off
six-week highs on Tuesday as investors took pause on the one
year U.S. bull market anniversary, while the yen rose in a sign
of increased risk aversion.
Sterling hit a one-week low against the dollar, weighed by
data showing a widening UK trade deficit and comments by Fitch
Ratings that the UK sovereign credit profile has deteriorated.
Robust corporate performance and upbeat fourth-quarter
corporate results on Monday helped investors push the benchmark
MSCI world stocks above their break-even level since December.
But expectations that the economic rebound could be lackluster
for years have kept investors from diving deeper into equities,
and sparked some profit-taking.
"People are still cautious," said Bernard McAlinden,
investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. "It would
be tough in the near term, even though you are still in a
cyclical bull market, to just race ahead."
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 0.1
percent, rising from lows as U.S. shares held steady at the New
York open. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <>
lost 0.2 percent, also off its low.
Early in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average <>
rose 11.56 points, or 0.11 percent, to 10,564.08. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> climbed 0.86 points, or 0.08
percent, to 1,139.36 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <>
increased 5.37 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,337.58.
One year ago, Wall Street hit a more than 12-year low in
the wake of the financial crisis. The Dow has rallied about 62
percent since then.
"This past year was one of the most powerful rallies in
history, and with the recent gains we've had, it makes sense
that we're going to move sideways for a while," said Phil
Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors
in New York.
Airline and transport stocks rose after UAL Corp's <UAUA.O>
chief financial officer said its United Airlines was clearly
seeing signs of recovery. United gained 8 percent to $18.88,
while the ARCA Airline index <.XAL> added 2.5 percent.
Airbus parent EADS <EAD.PA> lost 2.6 percent after it
posted heavy losses in 2009 and scrapped its dividend. It also
ruled out a solo bid for a lucrative U.S. tanker contract,
leaving Boeing Co. <BA.N> closer to snaring the contract worth
up to $50 billion. Boeing shares rose 1 percent.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> was an active mover, falling 0.62
percent to $81.36 a barrel, after hitting an 8-week peak above
$82 a day earlier. Forecasts for growing U.S. crude inventories
tempered recent bullish sentiment.
The dollar <.DXY> gained 0.23 percent against a basket of
major currencies. The dollar fell 0.39 percent to 89.91 yen
<JPY=> while the euro lost 0.32 percent to $1.3584 <EUR=>.
Sterling fell as low as $1.4935 <GBP=>. Fitch also said
urgency for fiscal adjustment was greatest for the UK, Spain
and France among the larger AAA sovereigns.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose ahead of a $40 billion
three-year note auction as the securities are used as hedges
for a heavy slate of corporate bond issuance.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR traded 5/32
point higher, pushing their yields down 0.01 percentage point
to 3.70 percent.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash and Harpreet Bhal in
London, and Emily Flitter and Ryan Vlastelica in New York;
Editing by Andrew Hay)
