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* US stocks flat, world equity index hits 14-month high
* US labor data better-than-expected, services weaker
* BofA move to repay taxpayer funds boosted optimism
* Dollar, yen remain under pressure; Nikkei rallies
(Changes dateline from LONDON, adds U.S. data and trading)
By Al Yoon
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - World stocks stalled after reaching a 14-month high as mixed U.S. economic data gave investors reason to limit moves into riskier investments.
Data showing the U.S. service sector contracted in November after growing modestly the prior month raised doubts about the strength of U.S. recovery and undermined risk appetite, weakening stocks and trimming euro gains.
The U.S. services report "doesn't seem to get as much weight as the manufacturing (data), but seeing it head in this direction is not a positive sign," said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets in Chicago.
The drop in world equities from a 14-month intraday high reflected the skittishness of investors who at year end want to protect profits earned since March. Stocks had been rising since Bank of America Corp. on Wednesday said it was able to repay $45 billion of taxpayer bailout funds, which suggested strength in the financial sector.
Investors are also wary of extending risk ahead of the U.S. November employment report on Friday, as persistent joblessness is seen hindering economic growth. A report on Thursday pointed to recovery, showing new applications for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 10.05 points, or 0.10 percent, to 10,442.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> edged down 0.03 percent to 1,108.89 and The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 0.29 percent to 2,191.39.
Shares of Bank of America
The euro clung to gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank hinted it would slowly start withdrawing emergency spending while the yen fell amid fears Japan may move to weaken its currency.
Though the ECB left interest rates at record lows, its president Jean-Claude Trichet said the next 12-month refinancing operation for banks would be the last. The bank also lifted its growth forecast for 2010. [ID:nECBNEWS]
That sent the euro near a 16-month high around $1.5140 and pushed it to its highest level against the yen in a week. But it pared those gains after Trichet said interest rates remain appropriate and did not offer a timetable for winding down the ECB's ultra-loose monetary policy.
Such policies tend to undermine a currency's value because they increase money supply and risk higher inflation.
At midday, the euro
Despite listless U.S. stocks, world equities have erased all the losses suffered after Dubai announced a standstill last week on billions of dollars of debt held by its conglomerate Dubai World, with investors taking risk-friendly outlooks that the world's central banks would keep interest rates low.
"This is certainly one of the reasons for the positive market sentiment today," said Joerg Rahn, chief investment officer at wealth management company Marcard, Stein & Co in Hamburg.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose as high as 302.83, its highest level since late September 2008. It was higher by 0.22 percent at midday in New York, at 300.99.
Japan's Nikkei average soared nearly 4 percent to its highest close in five weeks as exporters such as Canon Inc <7751.T> jumped on the weaker yen.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> fell 0.14 percent, while emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> rose 0.7 percent.
The Markit survey showed the euro zone's service sector expanded for the third consecutive month in November, underpinning the recovery optimism, although the expansion was at a slower pace than reported early last week.
In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude
oil
U.S. government bond prices fell, sending yields to one-week highs, after the jobless claims report suggested the economy recovery was taking hold and as investors prepared to buy $74 billion in Treasury debt next week.
The U.S. services sector report capped speculation of faster growth, limiting selling.
Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose 0.06 percentage point to 3.37 percent.
German government bond futures
(Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt and Steven C. Johnson and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York)
((albert.yoon@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6347; Reuters Messaging: albert.yoon.reuters.com@reuters.net))