* MSCI world equity index down 0.4 percent at 240.95
* Oil heads lower again; dollar rises
* Government bonds weaker
By Natsuko Waki
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - World stocks fell towards the previous day's three-week low and oil also slipped on Thursday after investors turned nervous in pushing risky assets further before seeing concrete signs of an economic recovery.
UK data showed retail sales fell unexpectedly in May, tempering recent optimism that the global economy is on track for a recovery and weighing on sterling. Britain's factory orders fell slightly more than expected in June with export orders recording their biggest drop in more than a decade.
Concerns over the banking sector grew after Standard & Poor's cut its credit ratings on 18 U.S. banks on Wednesday, saying increased regulation and market volatility will hurt the already weakened sector.
Struggling German Bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG is in talks with Germany's bank rescue fund SoFFin about 7 billion euros in fresh guarantees, two financial sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Banking concerns and UK data were enough to prompt investors to become cautious after benchmark world stocks rallied 40 percent between mid-March and early June.
"We've gone back below a few of the major moving averages. That alone will focus the mind on the fact that there is some scope for profit-taking," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin Securities.
"The rebound that we did see from the March lows was really fast and furious and there wasn't really much pause for breath while it was underway."
The MSCI world equity index lost a third of a percent, having hit the three-week low on Wednesday. Banking stocks lost 0.8 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.7 percent while emerging stocks dropped 1.1 percent. U.S. stock futures were down around a quarter percent, pointing to a weaker open on Wall Street later.
Chinese stocks posted their highest close in nearly 11 months led by coal and financial shares as optimism grew for prospects for economic recovery.
The World Bank in its quarterly update on China raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 7.2 percent from 6.5 percent projected in March, although that remains below the official target of 8 percent.
U.S. crude oil erased early gains to stand down 0.3 percent at $70.82 a barrel.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies while the yen fell 0.15 percent to 95.82 per dollar.
The Swiss franc fell briefly after the Swiss National Bank said it would act determinedly to prevent the currency appreciating against the euro.
The Swiss central bank left its target band for the three-month Swiss franc LIBOR at 0.00-0.75 percent after its quarterly policy meeting.
The currency fell as low as 1.5118 per euro, before recovering to 1.5043 after the central bank said it had been successful in stemming the currency's rise against the euro.
Sterling fell to a one-week low of 86.04 pence per euro while September gilt futures rallied as much as 14 ticks after UK data showed retail sales fell unexpectedly in May, driven by falls in clothing and footwear.
The September bund futures fell 18 ticks.
(Additional reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Victoria Main)