Global stocks edge up on ECB stimulus hopes, euro slips

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World equity indexes edged higher while the euro fell on Wednesday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy loose for an extended period.

U.S. stocks were up slightly, with housing stocks trimming their losses after data showing new home sales jumped sharply in August.

A recovery in Russian and Chinese shares also helped emerging markets halt a near-unbroken three-week run of falls.

Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy accommodative for as long as it takes to push ultra-low inflation in the euro zone closer to 2 percent.

"Draghi came out and said he is going to do whatever is necessary," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

Investors, however, have been rattled by this week's worse-than-expected economic data from euro zone countries, leaving Europe's equity markets pretty much where they began the month.

There was more bad news on Wednesday, with German business sentiment dropping for a fifth straight month in September to its lowest level since April 2013 and the Bank of Spain warning that Spanish private consumption growth and new job creation were likely to have slowed in the third quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 56.77 points, or 0.33 percent, at 17,112.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.88 points, or 0.30 percent, at 1,988.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21.19 points, or 0.47 percent, at 4,529.88.

"They are trying to hold (the S&P) in the 1,980s and not break that support and close below it," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

MSCI's global share index was nearly flat, while European shares were up 0.6 percent.

The MSCI emerging stocks index edged up 0.1 percent as it attempted to make only its second daily gain in 15 sessions.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro sank 0.4 percent to a 14-month low under $1.28 and was last at

$1.2788.

U.S. Treasuries yields were little changed on a lack of clarity surrounding Federal Reserve monetary policy. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were last down 2/32 in price to yield 2.54 percent, from 2.53 percent late Tuesday.

German bond yields inched lower following the German data.

Brent crude fell for a third day, with futures for November delivery down $1.20 at $95.65 a barrel, slipping further on inflated supplies and weak economic data from Europe. U.S. crude was off 25 cents at $91.30.

The pick-up in Russian and Chinese shares boosted emerging markets while the U.S.-led air strikes in the Middle East pushed investors toward safe-haven assets, cooling the recent pressure on emerging markets from rising global bond yields.

Shanghai shares also finished at their highest in more than 1-1/2 years.

EMERGING REBOUND

The pick-up in Russian and Chinese shares boosted emerging markets while the U.S.-led air strikes in the Middle East pushed investors toward safe-haven government debt, cooling the recent pressure on emerging markets from rising global bond yields.

The MSCI emerging stocks index edged up 0.3 percent as it attempted to make only its second daily gain in 15 sessions, while easing tensions with Ukraine helped Russian dollar bonds to their firmest level in over a month.

Shanghai shares also finished at their highest in more than 1-1/2 years, helped by brokerage firms which rose amid optimism over policy reforms. The main Chinese index climbed 1.5 percent for its best close since March 6, 2013.

Emerging European gains were led by Russia. Stocks there jumped 1.7 percent to extend Monday's rally following reports the European Union might review its Ukraine-related sanctions on Moscow, and hopes China's economy is strong enough to fuel demand for Russia's raw materials.

EU ambassadors meet in Brussels later on Wednesday, while the ceasefire between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine appears to be holding.

OIL SLIPS

Brent crude fell for a third day on Wednesday, with futures for November delivery down 12 cents at $96.73 a barrel, slipping further below $97 as inflated supplies and weak economic data from Europe outweighed the rising political tensions in the Middle East.

London copper climbed away from three-month lows, although a looming oversupply of the metal kept its advance in check.

The dollar was kept in check on geopolitical concerns. The United States and its Arab allies bombed militant groups in Syria for the first time on Tuesday, opening a new front amid shifting Middle East alliances and sapping demand for riskier assets.

The yen rose after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced concern about the economic impact of the currency's fall to a six-year low, adding to the sense of a pause this week in the dollar's rise.

"It seems to us - and I think most people - that it's not the fact of the move, just the pace of it that Tokyo is concerned about," said a spot dealer with one large international bank in London.

"(But) it is not a surprise that we're seeing the yen show some resistance at the moment, given the slight pullback we've seen on the dollar in the last few days."

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson, Lionel Laurent; John Geddie in London and; Chuck Mikolajczak in New York.; Editing by Dan Grebler and Toby Chopra)