* Spike in Chinese consumer inflation dents recovery hopes
* Global stocks slide, dollar slips vs euro in choppy trade
* Oil falls below $82 as inflation spike hits growth hopes
* US government bond prices slip ahead of 30-year auction (Updates with close of European markets)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Global stocks and the U.S. dollar slid on Thursday after a spike in Chinese inflation sparked concerns that interest rates in China and elsewhere may head higher sooner than later and crimp economic recovery.
Oil retreated from an eight-week high hit a day earlier to fall below $82 a barrel as the inflation news led investors to weigh the prospect of monetary tightening in China, a dynamo of global growth and energy demand. For details see: [ID:nSGE62A05U]
The inflation spurt in February to a 16-month high and a raft of economic data indicating broad-based strength in China's economy provided fresh arguments that policy-makers may tighten sooner rather than later in China.[ID:nTOE6290B5]
European shares slipped from a seven-week high to close lower and Wall Street edged down as well. Copper, a proxy for global growth because of Chinese demand, initially fell, but later steadied because of falling inventories in London warehouses.
World stocks as measured by MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> slipped 0.1 percent.
"The Chinese figures that came out this morning remind us that we will see a further tightening of conditions globally over the next couple of months," said Gerhard Schwarz, head of global equity strategy at UniCredit.
Gains in big-cap technology shares limited U.S. equity losses. Stocks barely reacted to data showing U.S. initial jobless claims dropped by 6,000 to 462,000 in the latest week, a tad more than expectations of 460,000 claims.[ID:nN11203719]
Shortly after midday, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 17.83 points, or 0.17 percent, at 10,549.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 3.51 points, or 0.31 percent, at 1,142.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 6.40 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,352.55.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares fell 0.3 percent to finish at 1,056.00 points after hitting a seven-week high of 1,060.64 earlier in the session.
Greek government bonds came under pressure as policy-makers injected a dose of reality into talk of creating a rescue fund. [ID:nLDE62A27M]
Benchmark German Bunds also eased, tracking a sharp decline in UK gilt prices, which fell as investors bet on further British debt underperformance before the government's annual budget later in March.
Bond yields, which move inversely to prices, rose across the
curve with the two-year Schatz yield
Yields, which move inversely to prices, on the 10-year Bund
U.S. government debt prices fell slightly, under pressure from the anticipation of new supply of 30-year bonds, although weaker jobs data stemmed some losses. [ID:nN11224957]
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
A smaller-than-expected drop in the number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits weighed on oil prices, but falling U.S. gasoline inventories and the first signs of a recovery in demand in 18 months supported crude. [ID:nN11203719] [EIA/S]
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly as oil imports fell to their lowest since February 1999. [ID:nN11203719]
U.S. light sweet crude oil
The dollar barely budged against the euro in volatile trade after the trade deficit failed to give currency investors clear direction, leaving the euro in recent ranges. [ID:nN11223380]
The dollar was down against a basket of major currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.11 percent at 80.352.
The euro
Spot gold prices