* MSCI world equity index down 0.3 pct at 288.88
* Dollar rises across the board after data, Fed minutes
* Euro under pressure; gold, commodities hit by IMF plan
By Natsuko Waki
LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The dollar rose broadly while
stocks and oil slipped on Thursday as stronger U.S. economic
data raised the prospect of the withdrawal of monetary stimulus,
while an IMF plan to sell more gold hit commodity-linked stocks.
Mixed results from European financial firms also weighed on
the region's shares, while the euro remained under pressure from
persistent concerns over Greece's debt woes.
Wednesday's upbeat data on the housing and industrial sector
and evidence that the Federal Reserve had discussed strategies
to withdraw some of its emergency stimulus highlighted a more
favourable outlook in the United States, compared with the euro
zone where a lingering debt crisis is set to weigh on growth.
"The Fed minutes have helped the dollar as they were
perceived as hawkish," said Johan Javeus, currency strategist at
SEB in Stockholm.
"Whereas before there was a sense that the (European Central
Bank) would be ahead of the Fed in raising rates it now looks
increasingly likely that the Fed will move before the ECB."
The dollar <.DXY> rose 0.3 percent against a basket of major
currencies while the euro lost a third percent to $1.3560
<EUR=>.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 0.3 percent
after hitting its strongest level in almost two weeks on
Wednesday.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> dropped 0.1 percent.
French bank Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> fell after it reported
fourth-quarter net profit below the previous three months' while
insurer AXA <AXAF.PA> almost quadrupled annual net earnings.
Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> fell half a percent while emerging
Asian stocks <.MIAPJ0000PUS> lost 0.7 percent.
The premium investors demand to hold 10-year Greek sovereign
debt rather than Germany's rose to a one-week high of around 338
basis points <GR10YT=RR> <EU10YT=RR>.
Greece, whose debt mountain is set to reach 120 percent of
gross domestic product, needs to sell some 53 billion euros in
debt this year, including at least 20 billion in April and May,
and is looking for EU support to reduce its borrowing costs.
Prices of bund futures <FGBLc1> fell 23 ticks, but two-year
euro zone government bond yields fell as low as 0.958 percent
<EU2YT=RR>, the lowest since the euro's inception, due to
expectations euro zone interest rates would stay low for longer.
COMMODITIES HIT
Commodity prices and related stocks and currencies were hit
by a combination of a stronger dollar and the International
Monetary Fund's plan for a phased sale of 191.3 tonnes of gold
earmarked in its plan to raise new resources for lending.
Gold slipped to $1,100 an ounce <XAU=> while basic resource
shares were the biggest underperformer <.SXPP> in Europe.
Oil fell 1.1 percent to $76.48 a barrel <CLc1> while the
Australian dollar fell almost half a percent to US$0.8951
<AUD=>.
Crude is still up 5.4 percent since the start of the month
<CLc1>, pushing Russia's rouble to 13-month highs and prompting
the country's central bank to move the boundary of its floating
trading band for the first time since November. []
(Additional reporting by Jessica Mortimer; editing by
Patrick Graham)
