(Adds close of U.S. markets)
* MSCI global equity gauge slips from near-record highs
* Wall Street falls as bill on Hong Kong revives trade
worries
* Oil prices pull back ahead of OPEC+ meeting
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices slumped and a gauge
of global equity markets on Friday edged away from an all-time
high it nearly breached earlier in the week as doubts simmered
over the outlook for signing an initial deal to ease U.S.-China
trade tensions.
Gold prices rose and stocks on Wall Street slipped after
China warned on Thursday it would take "firm counter measures"
against U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ratify a bill
backing protesters in Hong Kong. "It is definitely a concern that the signing of the Hong
Kong bill will be seen as an impediment to an agreement," said
Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon,
New Jersey.
"At this point, investors are also using this as an
opportunity to take some profits," Meckler said.
Tensions could be further frayed after two sources told
Reuters that the U.S. government may expand its power to stop
more foreign shipments of products with U.S. technology to
China's Huawei Technologies HWT.UL . Selling intensified on Wall Street in the last hour of
trading after the report on Huawei. All three of Wall Street's
major indexes set record highs earlier in the week on hopes for
an imminent "phase one" U.S.-China trade deal.
MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS , which
tracks shares in 49 countries, shed 0.48%, or about 4 points
lower than a record peak of 550.63 it established in January
2018.
Country indices for Germany .GDAXI and France .FCHI
closed slightly lower and the pan-European STOXX 600 index
.STOXX lost 0.44%.
The dollar fell from a six-week peak against a basket of
currencies as the still unsigned U.S.-China trade deal kept
investors on edge at the end of a holiday-shortened week due to
the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and early close on Friday.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
112.59 points, or 0.4%, to 28,051.41. The S&P 500 .SPX lost
12.65 points, or 0.40%, to 3,140.98 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 39.70 points, or 0.46%, to 8,665.47.
The MSCI world index has climbed 2.3% this month, its third
straight month of gains, helped in part by hopes the world's two
biggest economies are moving toward a resolution. The trade war
has roiled financial markets and disrupted supply chains.
The index is up 20% this year, helped by lower interest
rates and injections of government stimulus around the world.
With recent data showing a pick-up in economic growth and
10-year government debt yields likely to remain under 2%, the
outlook for stocks is a Goldilocks scenario, said Dev
Kantesaria, founder portfolio manager of hedge fund Valley Forge
Capital Management, Wayne, Pennsylvania.
"We're quite bullish on equities today and the reason for
that is that the main driver of equities is interest rates,"
Kantesaria said. "The news on trade, the elections, tax policy,
etc., is largely noise," he said.
Euro zone inflation data was the main piece of economic data
in investors' sights in Europe.
Inflation accelerated faster than expected in November,
likely comforting European Central Bank policymakers - even if
some factors pushing up prices may be temporary. The latest "flash" data showed annual inflation jumped to 1%
this month from 0.7% in October, outpacing expectations for
0.9%, as volatile food prices rose more than predicted.
Germany's benchmark 10-year Bund yield last traded at
-0.359% DE10YT=RR , little changed on the day and holding above
one-month lows hit the previous day.
French and Dutch yields were also off lows hit this week as
investors fretted about U.S.-China trade talks.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 3/32 in price to
yield 1.7758%.
The day's rise in gold prices kept the metal from posting
its biggest monthly decline in three years.
Spot gold XAU= added 0.3% to $1,462.38 an ounce.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.13%, with the euro EUR= up
0.12% to $1.102. The Japanese yen JPM= strengthened 0.08%
versus the greenback at 109.45 per dollar.
Oil prices slumped in muted, post-Thanksgiving trade but
still gained for the month on expectations the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries next week will extend a pact
to throttle oil output beyond March.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $1.44 to settle at $62.43 a
barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1
settled down $2.94 cents at $55.17. The 5% decline was the
biggest single-day fall since Sept. 17.
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