* Dollar pares losses after worst year start in 3 decades
* Dollar steadies after slump on U.S. devaluation complaint
* Fed seen on hold amid much policy uncertainty
* European shares climb as risk appetite creeps back
* Apple stock up 3 pct after bell on strong iPhone sales
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - World stocks made their first gain in five days on Wednesday as the dollar steadied from turbulence after the Trump administration accused Germany, Japan and China of devaluing their currencies to gain a trade advantage.
The U.S. currency .DXY suffered its worst January in three decades after President Donald Trump complained that every "other country lives on devaluation". hunters nudged the dollar .DXY up 0.15 percent in Asian and European trading, reassuring themselves that the Federal Reserve should signal later that it still plans to raise U.S. interest rates a number of times this year. /FRX
Healthy results from a slew of Europe's bluechips also bolstered the mood, lifting its main bourses 0.8 percent and snapping a four-day losing streak for MSCI's 46-country All World index .MIWD00000PUS .
Markets remained jittery however. Trump's top trade adviser had also said on Tuesday that Germany was using a "grossly undervalued" euro to exploit its trading partners. The accusations drew rebuttals from German and Japanese officials, but looked likely to run for some time. issue is at what point do investors get concerned that the potential negative shock effects from trade, immigration and geopolitics overwhelm the positives (of potential U.S. stimulus)," said Bluebay asset management head of Credit Strategy David Riley.
There was little reaction to a raft of European data. Sterling GBP=D3 barely budged after data showed its fall since June's UK Brexit vote had stoked the sharpest rise in factory costs on record but had offered little boost to exports. zone factories meanwhile started 2017 by ramping up activity at the fastest rate for nearly six years. about the year ahead has risen to the highest since the region's debt crisis," Chris Williamson, chief business economist at the data's provider IHS Markit, noting that inflation was also picking up.
Overnight in Asia, Japanese investors seemed relieved the yen's 0.5 percent rise JPY= against the dollar had not been larger. They nudged the Nikkei .N225 up 0.5 percent and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.1 percent in a largely quiet session.
Spread betters were also tipping a modest early bounce for Wall Street's S&P 500 ESc1 and Dow Jones 1YMc1 and a slightly better one for the tech-heavy Nasdaq NQc1 after Apple AAPL.O reported a strong revival in iPhone sales. ON HOLD
Chinese markets were still on holiday but surveys from the Asian giant showed manufacturing and services activity continued to expand in January. from tech bellwether South Korea also grew at the fastest pace in almost five years, another sign the global economy had been on the mend before all the talk of U.S. protectionism darkened the air.
Investors' hopes for a fiscal boost to the world's largest economy under Trump have been tempered by controversial and protectionist policies that have seen him suspend travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The policy uncertainty only added to expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates steady when it concludes a two-day meeting later Wednesday. retreat in the dollar also boosted a range of commodities, with copper near two-month highs CMCU3 .
Oil was restrained by ongoing high supplies despite an OPEC-led production cut which Russia is set to also join. Prices remained within a narrow trading band. Brent crude oil LCOc1 for April added 15 cents to $55.72, while U.S. crude CLc1 rose 15 cents to $52.95.
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http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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