* MSCI world index falls 0.2%
* Hong Kong violence escalates in rare daytime clashes
* Hang Seng index loses almost 3%
* European shares down 0.4%
* Gold and yen gain; trade war worries also weigh
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Updates prices throughout, adds sterling)
By Tom Wilson
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Shares around the globe fell on
Monday, buffeted by escalating violence in Hong Kong that pushed
Asian stocks to their worst day since August and stoked demand
for the safe-haven yen and gold.
In the 24th straight week of pro-democracy unrest, Hong Kong
police shot and wounded a protester as the Chinese-ruled
territory saw rare working-hours violence. The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 47 countries, slipped 0.2%, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index .HSI falling 2.6% and leading losses across Asia.
There, MSCI's widest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1.2% from six-month highs to set a
course for its worst day since late August. Chinese blue chips
.CSI300 dropped 1.8%.
The nerves spread to Europe, too.
The broad Euro STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 0.4%, with London
shares .FTSE losing 1.1%. Wall Street futures gauges also
suffered, suggesting losses of around 0.4% ESc1 .
Some investors said markets could be affected by any further
escalation of the violence in Hong Kong, where protesters are
angry about what they see as police brutality and meddling by
Beijing in the freedoms guaranteed to the former British colony.
"At some stage I think it is likely that there will be a
more fully-fledged crackdown," said Stéphane Barbier de la
Serre, a strategist at Makor Capital Markets.
"And if you see a crackdown, you could see markets
collapsing."
The violence sent investors running for assets perceived as
safe havens and away from riskier currencies.
Gold XAU= rose 0.5%, rebounding from a three-month low
touched on Friday to reach $1,465.36 per ounce.
The Japanese yen JPY=EBS , which often strengthens in
times of global political or economic turmoil, strengthened 0.3%
against the dollar. China's yuan, in contrast, weakened 0.3% to
7 per dollar in offshore trade CNH=EBS .
Sterling GBP=D3 gained 0.3% against the dollar after
figures showed that Britain's economy had dodged a recession -
but grown at its slowest annual pace in almost 10 years.
It was last trading at $1.28.
The GDP data compounded a warning from Moody's on Friday
that it might cut its rating on Britain's sovereign debt again,
as it lowered the outlook on Britain's current rating to
negative from stable.
TRADE WAR
Investors were also focused on the U.S-China trade talks.
After a bout of optimism last week over prospects that
Washington and Beijing could reach an initial deal to alleviate
their 18-month old dispute, doubts gnawed at markets again.
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said talks had
moved more slowly than he would have liked. He said reports that
the United States was willing to lift tariffs were incorrect,
adding that Beijing wanted a deal more than he did. Still, some market players said Trump's comments fitted an
established pattern of optimistic rhetoric being followed by a
more sceptical tone.
A deal was still likely, they said.
"It's the usual two steps forward and one step backwards,"
said Adam Cole, head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
"We are probably still moving in the direction (of a deal),
and that's the way the market is priced on balance."
The uncertainty over trade weighed on commodities markets
commodities.
Oil lost 1.3%, with concerns over trade and worries about
oversupply weighed on the market. Brent crude was down 82 cents
to $61.88 by late morning.
In Europe, Spanish government bond yields held their ground
after a weekend election delivered a fractured parliament and
set the stage for difficult talks to form a ruling coalition.
The far-right surged in the poll, the fourth in as many
years. Spain's 10-year bond yield was flat at 0.40% ES10YT=RR .
Most other major bond yields across the euro zone were
little changed, holding below highs reached on Friday as
investors showed scant appetite for risk in the wake of the Hong
Kong violence.
U.S. bond markets were closed for the Veteran's Day holiday.
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