RTRS: GLOBAL MARKETS-Dip after run-up; euro falls on German warning
Global shares dipped on Friday, pausing for breath at the end of a week that saw them gain 6 percent on hopes of economic recovery while the euro extended losses after Germany warned that fiscal irresponsibility in Europe threatened the common currency.
Oil fell below $54 a barrel on profit-taking after touching a 2009 high but the dollar rose, with sentiment bolstered by Thursday's Wall Street rally which saw the Nasdaq .IXIC advancing to positive territory for the year-to-date.
"We have a good chance that we are in the process of building a bottom. We can crumble back down and test the lows even, but a good chance is that we will not make new lows," said Petra Von Kerssenbrock, a Commerzbank technical analyst in Frankfurt.
MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was 0.6 lower by 1220 GMT, having risen some 6 percent this week to its highest level in six weeks.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of top shares waned 0.6 percent, weighed down by banks and energy majors, but remaining on track for its third straight week of gains -- the first time in nearly 12 months.
Emerging stocks .MSCIEF, which are up some 5 percent this year, eased 0.7 percent lower.
Emboldened by recent U.S. initiatives to jumpstart stalled bank lending, investors have seized on less dire than expected economic data from around the world as tentative signs of a global economic recovery.
Both France and South Korea posted fourth quarter 2008 economic contractions that were smaller than their initial official forecasts. [ID:nLR712327] [ID:nSEO60986]
The United States released revised fourth-quarter GDP data showing the economy shrinking at its fastest pace since 1982 but its 6.3 percent contraction was better than the consensus forecast of negative 6.5 percent in a Reuters survey of economists. [ID:nN26447514]
"In spite of the underlying concerns that we are in the midst of a bear market rally, the markets continue to perform robustly. It is noticeable that venerable banks such as UBS are claiming that institutional clients are now buying more stocks than they are selling," said Chris Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL Securities.
