(Adds latest numbers, Wall Street opening lower)
* World shares down 0.2%
* U.S. indices lower in early trading
* Fed meeting, tech earnings in focus
* Copper prices climb towards record
* Dollar steadies, up from multi-week lows
*
By Matt Scuffham and Danilo Masoni
NEW YORK/MILAN, April 27 (Reuters) - Shares eased from
record peaks on Tuesday as optimism about a global economic
recovery was dented by caution before a policy decision by the
Federal Reserve and earnings updates from a number of blue-chip
companies.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.20%.
The world index has risen 9% so far this year, underpinned
by expectations that rising COVID-19 vaccination rates will
allow more economies to recover and give a big boost to company
profits.
Earnings in Europe are expected to have risen 61% in the
first quarter, while U.S. profits are seen up more than 31%,
according to the latest Refinitiv IBES estimates.
Many investors, however, stayed on the sidelines ahead of
the Fed meeting that ends on Wednesday, when the U.S. central
bank is expected to confirm that it will maintain its easy
monetary policy to bolster the economy.
One area of concern was India, which is struggling with
surging coronavirus infections that have overwhelmed its
healthcare system. Markets were also awaiting results from U.S. tech
heavyweights Microsoft MSFT.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O later on
Tuesday. Companies that represent about 40% of the S&P 500's
market capitalization report from Tuesday through Thursday.
"There are yet to be any real punctures in the global risk
balloon at the moment," wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.
"We'll have to wait and see if these upcoming events might throw
this off course."
Some analysts say the recent rally has made stocks
vulnerable to profit taking, given lofty valuations and high
expectations going into the reporting season.
Wall Street opened lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 62.33 points,
or 0.18%, to 33,919.24, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.06 points, or
0.12%, to 4,182.56 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
27.75 points, or 0.2%, to 14,111.03.
In Europe, bank results grabbed the attention. Strong
earnings sent shares in Europe's biggest bank by assets HSBC
HSBA.L up 3.3%, while UBS UBSG.S fell 2.6% after a surprise
hit linked to the collapse of hedge fund Archegos.
Oil rebounded as optimism ahead of a meeting of producer
group OPEC+ to discuss output policy offset concern that India's
coronavirus crisis could dent a recovery in fuel demand.
U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 0.82% to $62.42 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was at $66.04, up 0.59% on the day.
The dollar =USD hovered near multi-week lows versus major
peers but moves were narrow as traders avoided taking out big
positions before a bond auction and the Fed meeting.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.036%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.04% to $1.2078.
"Nobody really believes that the Fed will change its forward
guidance, but just in case, investors appear to be loading up on
U.S. dollar as a hedge," said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley.
Bond traders were closely watching an auction of $62-billion
of seven-year U.S. Treasuries later on Tuesday.
The Treasury saw very weak demand at a seven-year debt
auction in February, which sparked a brutal global selloff. The
notes also saw tepid, although improved, demand in March.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 6/32 in price
to yield 1.5915%, from 1.57% late on Monday.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP rose 1% to $54,636. The world's most
popular cryptocurrency soared nearly 10% on Monday, after five
straight days of losses, on reports that JPMorgan Chase JPM.N
is planning to offer a managed Bitcoin fund. Bitcoin had slumped almost a fifth from an all-time high hit
this month.
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World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
Copper prices https://tmsnrt.rs/3nwzxKP
World stocks PE https://tmsnrt.rs/3sT6p1y
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