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GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks hit new high as Spanish relief, tech rally boost European trading

Published 30/10/2017, 08:54 pm
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks hit new high as Spanish relief, tech rally boost European trading
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* iPhone suppliers jump on Apple pre-orders

* Euro zone stocks near 10-year highs (http://reut.rs/2gUuA0L)

* Spanish markets climb on Catalonia relief

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

* Graphic: Catalonia crisis dents Spanish valuations http://tmsnrt.rs/2yXsTqc

By Helen Reid

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - World stocks hit a new record high on Monday, boosted by strong global technology stocks, while European trading was lifted by a recovery in Spanish markets after a poll eased investors' concerns over Catalan secession.

MSCI's world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks shares in 47 countries, rose 0.2 percent to its highest ever level. The index has surged 17.7 percent so far in 2017, and is on track for its best annual showing since 2013.

Euro zone stocks .STOXXE climbed 0.2 percent, holding near their highest level in 10 years. European stocks have surged this year as a healthy economy dovetailed with convincing growth in corporate earnings and a reduction in political risk.

"There is an avalanche of things that are happening or going to happen, but markets are just shrugging it off. It's like markets have been vaccinated against bad news thanks to the strength of the global business cycle," said Marie Owens Thomsen, global head of economic research at Indosuez Wealth Management in Geneva.

Spanish stocks jumped 1.4 percent and government borrowing costs fell after a weekend survey suggested Catalan secessionists may lose their majority in regional elections scheduled for December. benchmark 10-year bond yield fell 2 basis points to 1.52 percent ES10YT=TWEB . Banks Caixabank CABK.MC and Sabadell SABE.MC , which moved their headquarters out of Catalonia due to the crisis, led gains on the IBEX .IBEX .

The broader market showed signs of relief, with euro zone banks .SX7E rising 0.9 percent, and Italian stocks - which have been sensitive to the Spanish crisis - up 0.5 percent. Germany's 10-year bond yield DE10YT=TWEB also fell.

Technology stocks also drove European trading, riding a wave of gains on Nasdaq and in Asia after Apple said pre-orders for its new iPhone X were "off the charts".

iPhone component suppliers AMS AMS.S , Dialog Semiconductor DLGS.DE and STMicro .STM.MI led gains. tech sector .SX8P has quietly boomed this year, and is outperforming the Nasdaq .NDX in the year so far.

Spanish relief also helped the euro EUR= recover from its three-month low to trade up 0.2 percent at $1.1635.

The ECB's decision last week to extend bond purchases into September 2018 had sent the euro sharply lower.

CENTRAL BANKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

In a week of policy meetings by three major central banks, gold XAU= edged down on investor caution. Bank of England is widely expected to raise rates on Thursday to row back on its post-Brexit vote monetary easing, but investors feared that the decision could create more volatility than the well-received ECB stimulus extension last week.

"This coming week will see whether the BoE has also managed to steer markets in the right direction," said Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) analysts in a note.

Major currencies kept to tight ranges as interest rate decisions by the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve were also awaited.

The dollar .DXY was 0.3 percent softer against a basket of currencies as investors focused on the impending appointment of the next Federal Reserve chair, with speculation rife that Fed governor Jerome Powell is the favoured candidate.

An announcement is expected this week.

Sterling GBP= rose 0.2 percent against the dollar.

Oil markets firmed and Europe's energy stocks rose on expectations that an OPEC-led production cut due to expire next March would be extended. crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.6 percent, at a more than two-year high, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 0.1 percent. Europe's oil and gas stocks .SXEP rose 0.6 percent, among top gainers.

In other commodities, copper CMCU3 traded up 0.2 percent

A surge in tech stocks helped MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gain 0.4 percent overnight.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 ended little changed but remained around its highest level since mid-1996. Chinese shares bucked the trend, with the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC posting its worst day in 10 weeks.

Apple AAPL.O results on Thursday could offer the next big catalyst for tech stocks' seemingly unstoppable rise.

For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Catalonia crisis dents Spanish valuations

http://reut.rs/2yWmIm3 Euro zone stocks near 10-year highs

http://reut.rs/2gUuA0L

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional Reporting by Sujata Rao)

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