GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil slides, stocks soar as Mideast conflict worries fade

(Adds close of U.S. markets)
* Trump says Tehran 'standing down' after missile attack
* Global equity index, stocks on Wall Street rebound
* Oil, gold prices tumble after spiking on Iran strike

By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled and equity
markets soared on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump
said an Iranian missile strike on bases in Iraq had not harmed
American troops and damage was minimal, showing Tehran wanted to
de-escalate the Middle East standoff.
Iran fired missiles at military bases housing U.S. troops in
Iraq in retaliation for last week's slaying by American drones
of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, a strike that raised
fears of an escalating regional conflict. "Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for
all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,"
Trump said in an address to the nation.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes hit record highs after
Trump's remarks and crude prices slumped, with U.S. benchmark
West Texas Intermediate posting a 10% slide from a peak
following the Iranian attack to after Trump spoke. Gold had surged past $1,600 for the first time in nearly
seven years in earlier trade before discarding gains as fears of
a larger conflict abated, leading investors to move out of
safe-haven assets as risk appetite returned. The safe-haven yen fell from three-month highs against the
dollar and the Swiss franc, another safe haven, also retreated.
Brent oil futures slid off a four-month peak hit in
frenzied early trade soon after the Iranian attack. "Once Trump spoke and suggested that this is basically done
for now, risk took off. We're back to the all-time highs in the
S&P and accordingly so-called safe assets sold off," said Jacob
Oubina, senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.
Iran's long-term goal of a sphere of influence might be
jeopardized if it attacks too aggressively, said John Vail,
chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management in Tokyo.
"The impact on global risk assets will probably moderate
from here as we are likely past the worst part of the crisis,"
Vail said in an e-mail. "Neither side wants a war."
U.S. stocks and MSCI's broad gauge of stock performance in
49 countries pared gains just before markets closed after news
of two blasts, followed by sirens, were heard in Baghdad late on
Wednesday. MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.10%,
while bourses in Paris, Frankfurt and Milan rebounded.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
161.41 points, or 0.56%, to 28,745.09. The S&P 500 .SPX gained
15.87 points, or 0.49%, to 3,253.05 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 60.66 points, or 0.67%, to 9,129.24.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX earlier closed up
0.17% and emerging market stocks lost 0.21%.
Spot gold XAU= fell 1% to $1,558.60 an ounce, having
soared to $1,610.90 earlier in the session, its highest since
March 2013.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 0.9% lower at $1,560.20.
A report showing a surprise build in U.S. stockpiles helped
crude prices to fall.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude
inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels during the week ended
Jan. 3. EIA/S Analysts had expected a decline.
Brent LCOc1 futures fell $2.83 to settle at $65.44 a
barrel and U.S. WTI crude CLc1 settled down $3.09 at $59.61 a
barrel. WTI futures earlier hit $65.65, the highest since late
April.
U.S. Treasury yields rose after yields on the 10-year U.S.
Treasury note US10YT=RR overnight dropped to 1.705%, their
lowest in more than a month, as worried investors bought U.S.
government debt in a safe-haven move after the Iranian attack.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 11/32 in price
to yield 1.8615%, nearly 20 basis points above the low it hit
overnight following the Iranian strike. In Germany, yields on the 10-year government bond rose to
-0.247%, still far below a seven-month high of -0.157% hit on
Jan. 2, just before the killing of the Iranian general.
A higher-than-expected U.S. private payrolls number for
December also boosted the dollar.
The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls
jumped by 202,000 jobs after an upwardly revised gain of 124,000
in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private
payrolls of 160,000 last month following a previously reported
67,000 rise in November. The dollar index .DXY , tracking the unit against six major
peers, rose 0.3%, with the euro EUR= down 0.37% to $1.111.
The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.61% versus the greenback
at 109.09 per dollar.

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Tensions in the Middle East https://www.reuters.com/live-events/tensions-in-the-middle-east-id2917592
Iran missile strikes jolt gold https://tmsnrt.rs/2sNtCJB
Iran strikes sends FX markets into a spin https://tmsnrt.rs/35EEV4c
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