* World stocks under pressure, markets off recent highs
* Euro falls against dollar by reported Greek comments
* U.S. equities add gains after solid Philly Fed
(Updates with open of U.S. markets; adds byline,
dateline)
By Jennifer Ablan and Jeremy Gaunt
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - World stocks slipped
back on Thursday and the euro weakened against the U.S. dollar
on worries that Greece was not optimistic about receiving
European Union aid for its fiscal problems.
The euro <EUR=> was down around 0.40 percent at $1.3682 by
mid-morning New York trade, recovering slightly from a session
low of $1.3648. The MSCI's all-country world stock index
<.MIWD00000PUS> dipped 0.20 percent as did its emerging
market-only counterpart <.MSCIEF>.
An unidentified Greek official was quoted in a report as
saying Greece was increasingly pessimistic about the prospect
for assistance at a March 25 European Union summit and may seek
International Monetary Fund aid during the April 2-4 Easter
weekend. []
Greece's finance minister later described the report as
"ridiculous" and said all options for getting support to escape
a debt crisis were still open.
"This just highlights the uncertainty surrounding the
Greece issue. There seems to be no consensus in the euro zone,
which is undermining confidence and that is what is weighing on
the euro today," said Antje Praefcke, currency strategist at
Commerzbank.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told the European
Parliament on Thursday his country would not be able to sustain
its planned deficit cuts if it had to continue borrowing at
high rates. He also said Greece was not asking for help, but
wanted political support and Europe needed to take action.
Papandreou added that Greece would not default.
For their part, some US stock indexes rose, after a flat
open, following a report that showed manufacturing in the
Philadelphia region expanded in March for a seventh month.
[]
At 10:30 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones industrial average <>
was up 20.48 points, or 0.19 percent, at 10,754.15, while the
benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.21
points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,166.00. The Nasdaq Composite
Index <> was up 0.29 points, or 0.01 percent, at
2,389.38.
U.S. equities also were boosted by reports before the open.
U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in February as
a drop in energy costs was offset by higher food and medical
care costs, while the number of U.S. workers filing new
applications for unemployment insurance fell slightly less
than expected last week.[] []
U.S. Treasury debt prices were also mixed.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 3/32, with the yield at 3.65 percent, while the 2-year
U.S. Treasury note <US2YT=RR> was down 1/32, with the yield at
0.9358 percent. At the longer end of the yield curve, the
30-year U.S. Treasury bond <US30YT=RR> was unchanged with the
yield at 4.57 percent.
In currencies, the dollar was up against a basket of major
trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY>
up 0.39 percent at 79.948 from a previous session close of
79.638.
In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude oil
<CLc1> fell 43 cents, or 0.52 percent, to $82.50 per barrel.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose 55 cents, or 0.05 percent, to
$1124.60, while the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index <.CRB> was
down 0.19 points, or 0.07 percent, at 276.11.
(Additional reporting by Ellis Mnyandu in New York and Brian
Gorman and Jeremy Gaunt in London; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
