GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks falter, dollar recovers on renewed growth worries

(Adds U.S. market open, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

* Retail sales, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) earnings offset global slowdown

fears

* Dollar recovers as strong U.S. data soothes market nerves

* Oil extends big overnight drop on demand, supply pressures

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The dollar recovered from early

weakness but a gauge of global equity performance edged lower on

Thursday as concerns about global growth offset investor

optimism over a surge in U.S. retail sales last month and strong

Walmart earnings.

Gold prices, which have surged almost 20% since late May on

uncertainty driven by the U.S.-Sino trade spat and global growth

concerns, edged higher amid concerns about a slowdown after

China threatened to retaliate against the latest U.S. tariffs.

China called on the United States to meet it halfway on a

potential trade deal as U.S. President Donald Trump said any

pact would have to be on America's terms. The yield on 30-year U.S. government debt fell to a record

low below 2% and benchmark 10-year Treasury notes dropped to a

three-year trough, beaten down by the U.S.-Chinese trade

tensions and economic growth concerns. Euro zone government bond yields went further into negative

territory, reflecting concerns of an impending global recession

after the U.S. yield curve remained inverted for a second day in

a row. The inversion is a classic sign of recession.

But Walmart Inc WMT.N reported strong second-quarter

results and raised its earnings expectations for the year, while

U.S. retail sales increased 0.7% last month after gaining 0.3%

in June, the Commerce Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would

rise 0.3% in July.

Investors are caught between slowing global growth, which is

weighing on equity markets, with few alternatives to invest in

when the dividends of many stocks are higher than the interest

on government debt, said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane

Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

"When you get a story like Walmart you see the glass is half

full because maybe it's not as bad as it seems. There are still

companies succeeding in this environment, and that's going to

cause the market to go back and forth," Meckler said.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed

0.28%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost

0.17%.

Stocks on Wall Street trended lower after earlier gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 8.38 points, or

0.03%, to 25,471.04. he S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.73 points, or

0.06%, to 2,842.33 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped

14.23 points, or 0.18%, to 7,759.71. The dollar recovered from early weakness against the

safe-haven yen on the better-than-expected U.S. retail sales.

The yen tends to benefit from geopolitical or financial stress

as Japan is the world's biggest creditor nation. The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.22% versus the greenback

at 106.16 per dollar. The dollar index .DOXY rose 0.15%, with

the euro EURO= down 0.26% to $1.1109.

Oil prices fell more than 1%, extending the previous

session's 3% drop, pressured by mounting recession concerns and

a surprise boost in U.S. crude inventories. International benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 fell $1.50 to

$57.98 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 61 cents to $54.62.

U.S. yield curve inversion Aug. 14 2019 Image https://tmsnrt.rs/2YQ1VhR

Yield curves flattening https://tmsnrt.rs/2N3HiaY

GRAPHIC-Global assets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

GRAPHIC-World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

GRAPHIC-MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j

Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA

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