* Global stocks gain as central bank move continues to
support
* Euro, government bonds little affected by high inflation
* Investors train sights on U.S. GDP data
By Sitaraman Shankar
LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Global stocks ticked higher on
Thursday in the afterglow of a concerted central bank move to
boost liquidity but a rebound in oil and disappointing results
from some major companies capped gains.
Euro zone inflation jumped to a record high of 4.1 percent
in July but failed to boost an already well-bid euro, leaving
the focus on gross domestic product (GDP) data due from the
United States at 1230 GMT.
MSCI's main world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 0.3
percent, rising for a third straight day but held in check by
disappointing updates from drug maker Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA>,
telecommunications group BT <BT.L> and food giant Unilever
<ULVR.L>.
Global equities gained on a move on Wednesday by U.S.,
European and Swiss central banks to extend emergency lending
facilities for investment banks, but Wall Street futures pointed
to falls of 0.1-0.2 percent on Thursday, suggesting a mini-rally
was running out of puff.
"People have been braced for mixed results and that's what
we're getting. Costs are catching up and the consumer
environment is weaker," said John Haynes, strategist at Rensburg
Sheppard Investment Management.
"The macroeconomists have much lower numbers for expected
aggregate profitability than individual analysts, and I think
this is going to be the first year where the strategists are
more right than the underlying analysts," he said.
On the positive side, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> posted
strong results due to high oil prices and British bank HBOS
<HBOS.L> jumped after analysts detected no nasty shocks in its
results, helping European stocks recover from early losses.
As the earnings season wears on, investors will train their
sights on the European Central Bank.
Analysts said that the inflation data suggested another
increase was likely, but added that slowing growth would be a
mitigating factor.
"We still expect the ECB to hike in September as inflation
is too high and that is their primary concern. But it's a close
call as activity is very weak now," said Stephane Deo, an
economist at UBS.
Emerging market stocks <.MSCIEF> rose 0.5 percent, and gold
bounced off a five-week low as the dollar dipped against a
basket of currencies <.DXY>.
The U.S. advance second-quarter GDP data is expected to show
growth of 2 percent, and is a key number as investors try to
gauge the breadth of the impact of a credit crunch stemming from
a collapse in risky mortgages.
OIL JUMPS OVERNIGHT, TURKEY RALLIES
Oil slipped 85 cents but had risen $4 a barrel overnight on
an unexpected drop in U.S. gasoline stocks prompted by suppliers
facing weak consumer demand cutting production and imports.
Turkish markets surged as a court ruling against shutting
the governing AK Party for anti-secular activities raised
investors' hopes that greater political stability would boost
the economy.
Shares jumped 2.8 percent, the lira gained more than 2
percent and benchmark bond yields fell by a percentage point.
U.S. treasuries <US10YT=RR> were broadly steady in Europe
ahead of the GDP data, while Euro zone government bonds
<EU10YT=RR> reacted little to the inflation figures.
And the LIBOR interbank cost of borrowing three-month dollar
funds posted its biggest fall in a month in response to the
central banks' liquidity measures.
(Editing by David Christian-Edwards)
