* MSCI world equity index edges higher
* Worries resurface after U.S. housing, factory data
* LinkedIn shares more than double (Updates prices, adds fresh comments)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Discouraging U.S. housing and factory data weighed on oil and other commodity prices on Thursday while a lackluster day on Wall Street was overshadowed by the doubling of professional networking company LinkedIn's share price in its market debut.
Shares of LinkedIn Corp
"It seems to bring back memories of the tech bubble," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. "Based on what I know it seems like investors are a little overly enthusiastic."
LinkedIn shares were last up 132 percent at $104.41.
U.S. stocks barely budged after a mixed bag of economic data kept confidence in the economic recovery on shaky ground.
A drop in weekly claims for unemployment insurance suggested the labor market was on track for recovery but regional factory activity grew much more slowly than expected in May and home resales fell in April. For details see [ID:nN19134058].
"We continue to see the rate of growth slow. That has been the prevailing trend for the last three or four weeks," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 31.10 points, or 0.25 percent, to 12,591.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> edged up 1.52 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,342.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 6.50 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,821.50.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> closed 0.68 percent higher, while the MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> and the Thomson Reuters global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> were up around 0.3 percent for the day.
Oil prices fell as the U.S. data stoked fresh worries about the health of the world's largest economy, and after the International Energy Agency, concerned that high oil prices could dent the fragile global economic recovery, urged oil producers to increase supply to cut fuel costs.
U.S. crude oil
Recent buyers into oil markets were being discouraged by the U.S. data according to Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford.
"They were disappointed with the data ... and are bailing out," he said.
Copper
Commodity prices have fallen sharply in May as the dollar's weakness stalled. U.S. crude is down more than 13 percent for the month. The feeling that the commodities rout was overdone contributed to Wednesday's gains.
Investors in higher-risk assets such as commodities and equities next month face the end of a Federal Reserve program to buy U.S. Treasury debt, known as QE2, which has generated a flow of cash that has contributed to rising prices. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Poll: the end of the Fed's QE2. story [ID:nSLAJGE7U1]
factbox [ID:nLDE74I0R4] Asset moves since QE2 was first signaled, to mid May:
http://r.reuters.com/gew59r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
DOLLAR WEAKENS
The dollar declined as weak economic data suggested the Fed -- the U.S. central bank -- will likely keep monetary policy ultra-loose for a while longer, keeping interest rate differentials unfavorable for the greenback.
The euro
A restructuring of Greece's debt seemed to be off the table for now, according to euro zone sources, lending the whole issue a positive spin. [ID:nLDE74I0QP]
In U.S. Treasury debt trading, bonds sold off after the jobless data because "the message is there is not a severe deterioration in the labor market," said Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Decision Economics in New York.
The day's biggest losses were erased, however, after a Fed Bank of Philadelphia index showed factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region grew far more slowly than expected in May.
Benchmark 10-year notes