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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks drop, dollar gains as growth doubted

Published 11/19/2009, 06:21 PM
Updated 11/19/2009, 06:27 PM
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* Stocks slump worldwide as growth reassessed

* Dollar recovers vs euro, but loses ground to yen

* Gold edges further from record high, bounces late (Updates indexes, prices)

By Al Yoon

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Shares slumped globally on Thursday and the dollar gained against the euro as investors reassessed optimistic expectations for a rebound in world economic growth.

The dollar bounced further from 15-month lows, forcing gold slightly lower. The risk correlation between assets -- where the dollar falls when investors buy riskier assets and vice versa -- remained in place.

Investors are gripped by uncertainty over the global economy's future and the tendency to lock in some profits before the end of the year. Rising U.S. unemployment and concerns some European economies may slip further in 2010 may also mean that a 71 percent gain seen across world stocks since March and a rally in the euro have gone too far.

"We're running out of gas as far as the economic recovery momentum goes," said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT Forex in New York.

The U.S. dollar and the yen climbed, with major European currencies and the New Zealand and Australian dollars being the biggest losers. Despite the dollar's strength, it has still lost about 20 percent versus the euro since early March.

The euro fell 0.32 percent at $1.4916 at 5:40 p.m. in New York while the dollar lost 0.45 percent to 88.97 yen .

The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six other major currencies, rose 0.14 percent <.DXY>.

World stocks dipped 1.63 percent as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS>. They hit a year high on Monday, since when they have fallen more than 2 percent.

In the U.S. market, falling technology and basic materials stocks led the downturn after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch cut its 2010 growth outlook for the semiconductor industry. Analysts downgraded 10 stocks, including Intel Corp and Texas Instruments Inc .

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 93.87 points, or 0.9 percent, at 10,322.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 14.90 points, or 1.34 percent, at 1,094.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 36.32 points, or 1.66 percent, at 2,156.82.

Energy stocks <.GSPE> fell 2.1 percent as oil prices fell on concerns of falling demand and as the dollar strengthened.

U.S. light sweet crude oil fell $2.12, or 2.66 percent, to $77.77 per barrel.

European shares declined for the third straight session to a one-week low, with food producers among losers after Danone cut its sales growth target. Financial shares also depressed indexes, with HSBC , Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank off 1.3 percent to 2.5 percent.

A senior economic advisor to the German government reinforced concerns about global growth when he told Reuters Television that Germany could face a double-dip recession in late 2010 or 2011 as extra public spending is withdrawn.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares fell 1.6 percent.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average <.N225> fell 1.3 percent to a four-month closing low after Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> said it would raise $11 billion to boost capital.

"Sensibility is returning to the market. It's no longer looking for the positive side of the news, but rather taking a step back and being a bit more critical," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, an equity strategist at Postbank in Bonn.

Some emerging market currencies fell as investors worried about the introduction of capital controls to stem speculative flows, following a new move by Brazil.

Brazil took another step on Wednesday to try to contain the appreciation of its currency, the real , unveiling a 1.5 percent tax on certain trades involving American Depositary Receipts issued by Brazilian companies. For more see [ID:nN1828104].

The relative strength of the dollar knocked gold below its record of $1,150 an ounce, reached on Wednesday. But spot gold recovered from lows to end down 20 cents at $1,144.

Weakness in equities fueled a bid for U.S. government debt, outweighing concern over the $118 billion in new Treasury bonds dealers must sell next week. Bonds were also supported as a report of U.S. jobless claims underscored the American labor market is still soft. [ID:nN19409318]

Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell 0.03 percentage point to 3.34 percent, close to the more than one-month low hit on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou in New York, Jeremy Gaunt in London and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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