* MSCI world equity index up 0.2 percent at 342.42
* China trade data boosting risk appetite; inflation eyed
* Euro hits 3-week low; oil steadies
By Natsuko Waki
LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - World stocks inched towards last week's 30-month high on Monday as China's shrinking trade surplus underscored its robust domestic demand and talk of slower-than-expected inflation eased policy tightening concerns.
China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January when imports surged, highlighting China's massive appetite for raw materials. Solid export growth also hinted at solidifying recoveries in the U.S. and European economies.
Traders said that China's consumer prices may have risen as little as 4.9 percent in the year to January, the lowest of 26 forecasts in a Reuters poll which gave a median prediction of a 5.3 percent rise. The official data will be announced on Tuesday.
This eased concerns that China's central bank would have to raise interest rates aggressively.
"The talk of the Chinese inflation data and the export and import data is going to boost the market," Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt said.
"Inflation has been the major worry and there has been a fear of monetary overkill, but until the data is released (on Tuesday) we could see a bit of volatility in the market."
The MSCI world equity index rose 0.2 percent, having hit its highest level since August 2008 last week.
Thomson Reuters' global stock index gained 0.3 percent. U.S. stock futures were down around 0.1 percent, pointing to a weaker open on Wall Street.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.2 percent to hit a 29-month peak.
Emerging stocks added 1.1 percent. Shanghai stocks hit an eight-week high, scoring the index's biggest single-day percentage gain since mid-December.
U.S. crude oil erased early losses to stand steady at $85.53 a barrel after hitting a 10-week low last week.
YIELD SUPPORT FOR DOLLAR
The euro fell to a three-week low of $1.3450 on concerns surrounding the fate of German lender WestLB.
Sources told Reuters German financial regulator BaFin is being involved in the WestLB restructuring talks as the bank struggles to come up with a rescue deal.
"The WestLB news doesn't provide a great deal of optimism to the euro at the start of the week," said Jeremy Stretch, currency strategist at CIBC.
"Structural negatives in the euro zone haven't gone away, and some of those risks are due to the banking sector. WestLB's problems are a reflection of that."
The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies.
There was no immediate reaction from President Barack Obama's budget proposal to cut the U.S. deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years.
The dollar has been supported by rising U.S. yields, which hit their highest in nearly 10 months last week.
"As long as U.S. yields hold current high levels it is hard to oppose dollar gains," Lloyds TSB said in a note to clients.
"But it is questionable how sustainable the current level of U.S. yields is with a dovish (Federal Reserve) stance, and the dollar typically struggles to find much traction in a 'risk on' world."
German government bond futures were steady on the day.
European finance ministers will discuss on Monday how to give their euro zone rescue fund more flexibility and firepower and how to tackle debt crises after 2013, but final decisions are unlikely before March.
(Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)