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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks down as trade row triggers jitters

Published 09/14/2009, 07:38 AM
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* MSCI world equity index down 1 percent at 281.86

* U.S.-China trade row worries; dollar firmer

* Oil down below $69 a barrel

By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent

LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Stock markets slid on Monday and the dollar firmed against major currencies due to fears that a burgeoning U.S.-China trade row could damage the world economy just as it was getting back on track.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced safeguard duties on tyre imports from China on Friday and China responded by signalling anti-dumping investigations of motor vehicles and chicken products from the United States. [ID:nLD514738] Some of the losses in risky assets on Monday were linked to lower commodity prices, which lifted the dollar and pushed down mining and energy stocks.

"A trade war will not help the global economy and we believe this news is enough to dent a market positioned for recovery," said Chris Turner, head of FX strategy at ING.

Japanese shares led the slide with losses of 2.3 percent on the Nikkei <.N225>, followed by Europe, where the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> was down more than 1 percent.

That took MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> down nearly 1 percent, threatening to break a seven-session winning streak that lifted the index to 11-month highs last week.

MSCI's emerging market index <.MSCIEF> also lost 1.4 percent despite gains in China itself. Crude oil fell more than 1 percent to $68.58 a barrel.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street later.

STRONGER DOLLAR

The low-yielding dollar -- which tends to gain when investors cut back on riskier bets -- rose against most currencies as stocks fell and players fretted over the trade spat.

The dollar index, a gauge for the greenback's performance against six major currencies, rose more than half a percent to 77.030 <.DXY>, rebounding from a one-year low of 76.457 hit on Friday.

The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 90.71 yen while the euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.4544 .

"China's response is a clear sign of irritation at the measures, not least when its domestic worries are escalating, but also as a sign of displeasure at the U.S. administration's supposed violation of G20 commitments," UBS said in a note to clients.

"The big risk within FX is China uses the G20 summit and comments on the greenback as leverage to gain the upper hand in this dispute, though once again we note that this would also be damaging to China's own sovereign assets."

The September Bund future fell 11 ticks.

Italian 10-year government bond futures fell on their debut, underperforming German Bund future in trade thinned by investors' caution over how interest in the new product would shape up.

The BTP future contract , launched on the Eurex Derivatives exchange, is aimed at providing bond investors with greater flexibility in hedging their exposure to not just Italian bonds but all non-German "peripheral" euro zone government debt. (Additional reporting by Tamawa Desai; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

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