* World stocks hold near 29-month highs on data, earnings
* Egypt, euro zone worries ease but flare-ups eyed
* Oil prices march higher
(Updates with U.S. trading, previous dateline London)
By Al Yoon
NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - World stocks held near
29-month highs on Wednesday as data suggested a sustained
global economic recovery, though oil prices rose and investors
remained largely on hold as civil unrest in Egypt turned
violent.
Brent crude topped more than $102 a barrel on worries that
flare-ups in Egypt could trigger changes to the fragile status
quo in the Middle East and North Africa. source of more than a
third of the world's oil.
U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> rose 49 cents, or 0.54
percent, to $91.35 per barrel.
MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS>, one
of the broadest gauges of global equities, rose a third of a
percent after earlier hitting levels last seen in August 2008.
"Just like everyone else, we are monitoring Egypt very,
very closely in the event we need to make adjustments," said
Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Loomis Sayles, which has more than
$150 billion in assets under management.
Emerging market shares <.MSCIEF> led gains, rising 0.7
percent. They are down more than 1 percent in 2011, however,
reflecting a shift by investors to developed markets such as
the United States, where key indexes on Tuesday hit their
highest closing levels in about 2-1/2 years.
Investors were cheered on Wednesday after ADP Employer
Services said U.S. private employers added 187,000 jobs in
January, more than forecast. On Tuesday, strong factory data
worldwide pushed U.S. benchmark stock indexes to their highest
closing levels since June 2008.
"Jobs momentum is going the right way, and it makes me more
optimistic for Friday's (U.S.) payroll report. But it isn't
such a blow-out number to allow us to add to gains," said
Michael Yoshikami, president and chief investment strategist at
YCMNET Advisors in Walnut Creek, California.
But civil unrest in Egypt remained a top concern as clashes
erupted between opponents and supporters of President Hosni
Mubarak in central Cairo. Worries that the protests could
spread to other countries in the region have pressured equities
in recent sessions. []
The Dow Jones industrial average <> traded little
changed, most recently falling 0.30 points to 12,039.86. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dipped 2.43 points, or 0.19
percent, to 1,305.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <>
inched up 0.42 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,751.61.
Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp <WHR.N> fell 4.3 percent to
$81.75 after its profit missed expectations. [].
Time Warner Inc <TWX.N> rose 1.7 percent to $33.96 after
its profit topped estimates on a 21 percent jump in advertising
sales at its cable networks. []. Mattel Inc
<MAT.O> rose 2.1 percent to $24.66 after its profit beat
expectations on strong demand for its Barbie and American Girl
dolls. [].
Britain's Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> surprised investors with
a return to growth in the last quarter of 2010.
"The world economy appears to be improving a little faster
than expected, valuations are OK and companies are publishing
quite good results," Geert Ruysschaert, strategist at BNP
Paribas Fortis Private Banking, said. "Investors can take
advantage of that."
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> rose 0.1
percent, off its highs but at a 3.5 percent year-to-date gain.
Earlier, Japan's benchmark Nikkei <> ended up 1.8 percent
for its biggest daily gain since Dec. 2.
Concerns about the political crisis in Egypt had eased in
financial markets after President Hosni Mubarak said he will
step down at the end of his term in September. Protesters were
still demanding an immediate end to his 30-year rule, however,
and television broadcasts showed chaotic scenes of the
violence, the worst clashes in the nine-day uprising.
A bid for some safe-haven assets, including U.S. Treasury
bonds, persisted on Egypt's unrest. Benchmark 10-year Treasury
note yields declined 0.01 percentage point to 3.43 percent.
But gold <XAU=> fell $3.86, or 0.29 percent, to $1,336.30
an ounce, well below its December record high near $1,430.
In currencies, the euro retreated from a 2-1/2-month high
against the dollar as signs of dissension over a euro zone
rescue plan caused some investors to take profits on its recent
rise.
The euro climbed as high as $1.3861 overnight, its best
level since early November, but fell after a German government
official said Berlin opposed allowing a euro zone rescue fund
to buy troubled countries' debt.
Traders said winter storms in United States kept trading
ranks thin.
A downgrade of Irish government debt also prompted some
euro selling, but analysts said the currency remains in an
uptrend and may yet test $1.40 in the weeks ahead.
"There's a bit of a flare-up in Egypt, and some of our
barometers suggest a hint of renewed risk aversion, but I don't
think it will dissuade investment in high-yield assets," said
BNY Mellon strategist Michael Woolfolk. "And given how far the
euro has come, you would expect to see some profit-taking."
Dollar gains against major currencies were slight, even
after the U.S. private employment data. The U.S. Dollar Index
<.DXY> rose 0.2 percent to 77.190.
The euro <EUR=> slipped 0.23 percent to $1.3801. Against
Japan's yen, the dollar <JPY=> rose 0.25 percent to 81.51 yen.
Commodity prices continued to rise on improving global
growth prospects with copper <CMCU3> hitting a fresh record
high at $9,988.25 a tonne.
(Additional reporting by Simon Jessop and Neal Armstrong in
London, and Steven C. Johnson and Ryan Vlastelica in New York;
Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
