By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stock markets rose slightly on Wednesday, helped by better-than-expected Chinese factory activity data, and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggesting the U.S. central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates.
Following Wall Street's gains on Tuesday and more rises in Asia overnight, MSCI's 46-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> was up 0.18 percent at 433.63 points and veering closer to the 434.24 all-time peak it scaled in September.
The S&P 500 <.SPX> and Dow <.DJI> U.S. indices rose slightly a day after they hit records. U.S. stocks were bolstered by housing market data on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's second day of testimony.
In China, the closely watched flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index showed February factory activity hit a four-month high but export orders shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months.
Weakening global growth has kept investors on edge about the Fed's plans, with some worrying that a premature start to a rate-hike cycle could drain momentum from the U.S. economy while Europe and China struggle.
Yellen's testimony Tuesday suggested the Fed would be flexible, which many strategists took as a sign that the Fed's first rate hike would not come until September. She repeated her remarks on Wednesday to a U.S. House of Representatives committee.
"What people are really hinging on is any noises that are coming out of the Fed, most notably Janet Yellen," said Keith Bliss, senior vice-president at Cuttone & Co in New York.
"I would term what she did yesterday as somewhat 'jawbone therapy' where she knows the market is listening to every word and she is being just noncommittal enough."
Brazil's Bovespa index <.BVSP> was down 0.8 percent. This was led by a 7 percent drop in Petrobras
The benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index closed down 0.1 percent after six days of unbroken gains. It has risen 12.7 percent since the end of 2014.
U.S. Treasuries prices edged lower.
At 12:27 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 13.94 points, or 0.08 percent, to 18,223.13, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.38 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,115.86 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 3.77 points, or 0.08 percent, to 4,971.89.
The dollar <.DXY> was down 0.25 percent against a basket of currencies even after upbeat U.S. housing data. Single-family home sales in January fell less than expected and supply rose to its highest level since 2010.
U.S. crude oil was up 1.44 percent at $49.98 a barrel after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said oil demand was growing. Brent Crude
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> ended up 0.85 percent, but Japan's Nikkei <.N225> snapped a five-day climb after hitting a 15-year high the previous day.
(Corrects headline to say rise instead of fall)
(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, Editing by Alison Williams, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
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