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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks fall on concerns about global growth, dollar slips

Published 19/12/2015, 03:49 am
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks fall on concerns about global growth, dollar slips
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* Shares fall as euphoria over Fed rate hike fades

* U.S. crude hits lowest level since 2009 (Refiles to fix headline tag; adds U.S. market open, changes dateline; previous LONDON)

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Global equity markets fell on Friday, pulled lower by concerns about slumping crude oil prices, while the dollar slipped against the yen on views the Bank of Japan may not ease policy as much as expected.

Investors were cautious in the wake of the euphoria that followed the U.S. Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike in almost a decade earlier in the week.

The yen gained after the BoJ merely tweaked its monthly asset-purchase program, putting a pause in the dollar's rise in recent months on views that the Fed's likely decision to raise interest rates and the BoJ's path of more potential stimulus would drive investment into higher-yielding U.S. assets.

The Fed raised rates on Wednesday for the first time in almost a decade.

"The BoJ's move shows a weak hand," said Jens Nordvig, global head of FX strategy at Nomura in New York. "It suggests the BoJ is out of ammunition, and will not be able to deliver anything meaningful going forward," he said.

The dollar, which had hit a more than two-week high of 123.590 yen, was last down 0.89 percent at 121.46 JPY= .

The euro was up 0.18 percent against the dollar at $1.0844 EUR= . The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.46 percent at 98.815.

Equities suffered from fatigue after markets had risen in anticipation of the Fed move, while the price of oil was driving investor sentiment on concerns over global growth and a growing supply surplus.

"We had a couple of strong days as a result of the Fed," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief market strategist at Interactive Brokers LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut.

"The market is getting sucked into a fear trade," he said. It's really oil - is it a glut or a global slowdown? But I don't think it's symbolizing a slowdown in the global economy."

MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS fell 0.74 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading European share dropped 0.98 percent to 1,420.038.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 186.7 points, or 1.07 percent, to 17,309.14. The S&P 500 .SPX slid 15.45 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,026.44 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 21.57 points, or 0.43 percent, to 4,980.99.

Crude oil rebounded after the U.S. benchmark traded well below $35 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 rose 0.86 percent to $37.38 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 gained 1 percent to $35.30 a barrel.

Treasury prices rose. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note US10YT=RR rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.2058 percent.

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