GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks dip from record levels ahead of Fed

© Reuters.

* World shares down 0.1%
* Fed meeting, tech earnings in focus
* Copper prices hit 10-year high, oil rebounds
* Dollar edges up from multi-week lows
* Yen dips 0.2% vs dollar after BOJ

By Danilo Masoni and Stanley White
MILAN, April 27 (Reuters) - Shares dipped from record highs
on Tuesday as optimism about the economic recovery was dented by
caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision and a
raft of earning updates.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 countries, fell 0.1% by 0810 GMT, following a muted
session in Asia and slight early losses in Europe.
The index is up 9% year-to-date, underpinned by expectations
that rising 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's policy meeting ending on Wednesday, where the U.S.
central bank is expected to confirm that it will maintain its
easy monetary policy to bolster the economy.
Markets were also awaiting for results from U.S. tech
heavyweights Microsoft MSFT.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O later on
Tuesday.
"There are yet to be any real punctures in the global risk
balloon at the moment," said Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid
in a note. "We'll have to wait and see if these upcoming events
might throw this off course."
In extended trade, Tesla TSLA.O shares dipped about 0.4%
even after the electric car maker beat Wall Street expectations
for first-quarter revenue. S&P 500 futures EScv1 rose almost 0.1%, while earlier the
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.06%.
One area of concern was India, which is struggling with a
surge of coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed its
healthcare system. Copper prices hit a 10-year high over supply worries in top
producer Chile and as investors hope for an improvement in
global demand amid a stable economic recovery.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 hit
$9,965 a tonne, its highest since March 2011, before retreating.
Oil rebounded after top oil producers stood by their demand
forecasts, but there are still downside risks due to surging
COVID-19 cases in India, the world's third-biggest oil importer.

Brent crude LCOc1 was 0.5%, at $65.94 a barrel and U.S.
oil CLc1 gained 0.6% at $62.24.
Bond traders were are also 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 market selloff
across the globe. The notes also saw tepid, although improved,
demand in March.
Ahead of the auction results, seven-year U.S. yields
US7YT=RR edged up to 1.265%, while benchmark 10-year yields
US10YT=RR rose slightly to 1.573%.
The dollar =USD hovered near multi-week lows versus major
peers but moves were narrow as traders avoided taking out big
positions before the bond auction and the Fed meeting.
It was last up 0.08% on the day at 90.961.
The yen JPY= pulled back from a seven-week high to fall
0.2% against the dollar after the Bank of Japan lowered its
consumer price forecasts only a week after Tokyo and Osaka
entered their third state of emergency over a spike in
coronavirus infections.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP rose 1.2% to $54,715. 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 its all-time high
hit earlier this month.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>