(Adds U.S. market open, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
* Stocks surge in global relief rally as Mideast tension
eases
* Yen slides to two-week low
* First two-day fall for gold since November
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Crude prices slid and equity
markets around the world set new highs on Thursday as investors
took on greater risk in a relief rally after the United States
and Iran moved to defuse escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Gold prices retreated further from a near seven-year peak
scaled immediately after Iran's retaliatory missile strike on
military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq early Wednesday,
while the safe-haven yen fell to more than a one-week low
against the dollar.
U.S. President Donald Trump later eased tensions by stepping
back from renewed military action. He had ordered the U.S. drone
strike last week that killed a top Iranian general and raised
fears over the past few days of a greater regional conflict.
MSCI's gauge of equity indexes in 49 countries hit an
all-time high, as did the pan-regional STOXX 600 index in Europe
and the three major stock indexes on Wall Street. The benchmark
index in Australia set a record closing high and the main
Canadian stock index hit an all-time high.
Trump's decision to take the higher ground has helped to
soothe markets and increase demand for risk assets, said Brad
Bechtel, managing director, Jefferies in New York.
"Trump completely downplayed the idea of going to war with
Iran or even any sort of retaliatory measures," Bechtel said.
Neither side wants to further escalate tensions, said Bank
of Singapore currency strategist Moh Siong Sim in Singapore.
"All is well - so says Trump! That is the mood today," Sim
said.
MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.63%,
while the STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.42%. The MSCI emerging
markets index .MSCIEF rose 1.64%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
180.1 points, or 0.63%, to 28,925.19. The S&P 500 .SPX gained
18.7 points, or 0.57%, to 3,271.75 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 75.89 points, or 0.83%, to 9,205.13.
Crude prices slid as the market shifted focus toward rising
U.S. crude stocks as prices receded to pre-crisis levels of mid-
December.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 51 cents to $64.93 a
barrel, while West Texas Intermediate CLc1 slid 39 cents to
$59.22 after tumbling nearly 5% on Wednesday.
Crude oil stocks USOILC=ECI were up 1.2 million barrels
in the week ended Jan. 3 at 431.1 million barrels, the Energy
Information Administration said on Wednesday.
The yen, seen as a safe haven in times of geopolitical
turmoil because of its deep liquidity as well as Japan's current
account surplus, quickly reversed gains made after the Iranian
missile strike.
Another safe currency, the Swiss franc, also fell against
both the dollar and the euro. EURCHF= .
The yen JPY= weakened 0.37% versus the greenback at 109.55
per dollar. The dollar index .DXY , tracking the unit against
six peers, rose 0.23%, with the euro EUR= down 0.05% to
$1.1097.
Greater risk appetite was also evident in emerging markets.
China's trade-exposed yuan CNY= reached a five-month high of
6.9281 per dollar, while South Africa's rand ZAR= and Turkey's
lira TRY= , which had been buffeted this week, rebounded.
EMRG/FRX
U.S. Treasury debt furthered a sell-off from the previous
session. The benchmark 10-year note US10YT=RR fell 6/32 in
price to yield 1.8949%.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.5% to $1,547.47 an ounce.
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