* World stocks down 0.25%, Wall Street trades mixed
* European shares slide but pare losses of more than 1%
* U.S. Treasury yields fall further
* Next major event is minutes of Fed's last meeting
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Global stock markets stumbled
and the dollar climbed on Wednesday after China condemned U.S.
Senate legislation aimed at protecting human rights in Hong
Kong, the latest obstacle to reaching a deal in a prolonged
Sino-U.S. trade dispute that has weighed on growth worldwide.
Gold prices rose to their highest in nearly two weeks before
paring gains, while the yield on Germany's 10-year bond tumbled
to a 2-1/2 week low as worries over the direction of U.S.-China
trade talks swept world markets.
The dollar edged higher, fueled by the worsening trade
tensions, ahead of the 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) release of minutes
from the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting in October
when it raised interest rates a third time this year.
The MSCI gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
shed 0.24%, damping an equity market rally that has pushed the
index up almost 20% so far this year.
Germany's DAX .GDAXI , the most trade-sensitive among
Europe's regional indexes, dropped 0.52%, halving earlier
losses.
Failure to resolve the 16-month trade war has kept equity
markets from further accelerating, said Rick Heckler, a partner
Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation on Tuesday
aimed to protect human rights in Hong Kong amid China's
crackdown on the pro-democracy protest movement. China's foreign ministry said the United States should stop
interfering in Hong Kong and Chinese affairs. "It's a real concern that the Chinese are angered by it (the
Senate vote), and moved any resolution further away from what
already has been very difficult negotiations," Heckler said.
Investors are worried about a hardening of the trade war
rhetoric. The United States would raise tariffs on Chinese
imports if a trade deal is not reached, President Donald Trump
said on Tuesday. In Europe, the pan-regional STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost
0.55% while the emerging markets index .MSCI slid 0.45%.
Stocks traded mixed on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell 64.68 points, or 0.23%, to 27,869.34 and the
S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.83 points, or 0.06%, to 3,118.35. The
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 5.62 points, or 0.07%, to
8,576.27.
The dollar index .DXY , tracking the unit against six major
currencies, rose 0.08%, with the euro EUR= down 0.07% to
$1.107. The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.15% versus the
greenback at 108.73 per dollar.
Yields on government 10-year FR10YT=RR NL10YT=RR debt
across the euro area fell 3 to 4 basis points, after trading in
a narrow range the past two sessions.
In Germany, the yield on the 10-year bund fell to as low as
-0.384% DE10YT=RR , down 16 basis points from five-month highs
hit earlier this month.
Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
US10YT=RR rose 10/32 in price, pushing its yield down to
1.7534%.
Oil prices were up more than 1% after a better-than-expected
U.S. crude inventories report and as Russia said it would
continue its cooperation with OPEC to keep the global oil market
balanced.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up $1.10, or 1.8%, to
$62.01 a barrel, while WTI crude CLc1 futures gained $1.02, or
1.9%, to $56.23 a barrel.
Gold steadied after touching a two-week high earlier in the
session, as investors awaited further clues on Fed monetary
policy.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.2% to $1,469.03 an ounce.
US yield curve https://tmsnrt.rs/2Xwm60p
Odds on Conservative majority vs. UK assets https://tmsnrt.rs/343MPE1
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