GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip as hot oil fuels inflation gyrations

* Mining, oil sector shares jump on commodities rally
* Oil at one-year high, copper highest in nearly a decade
* China shares falter on return from Lunar New Year
* Bond yields steady after sell-off
* Sentiment still positive on recovery hopes
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Marc Jones
LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - World stocks were battling to
avoid a second day of declines on Thursday as hints of rising
inflation led by a one-year high in oil prices and the strongest
copper prices in nearly a decade kept traders in check after a
boisterous run up.
Europe's share markets managed to scrape together some early
gains as commodities bulls drove drillers and miners up 2.5%
.SXPP to offset disappointing earnings numbers from companies
including Airbus and Orange. .EU Wall Street futures were stuck in the red, though, and most
of Asia's indexes had dipped overnight. China returned from its
Lunar New Year holiday to the sight its central bank draining
260 billion yuan ($40.31 billion) from money markets, raising
concern about backdoor policy tightening.
Government bond yields were taking a breather after the
inflation-driven sell-off in global fixed income, although the
commodities charge kept petro-currencies like the Canadian
dollar CAD= , Norwegian crown NOK= and Russian rouble RUB=
edging higher. /FRX GVD/EUR
"The clear theme right now is the reflation rotations and
gyrations in markets all over the place," said Arnab Das,
Invesco's global market strategist .
Strong U.S. retail sales on Wednesday, signs the Federal
Reserve plans to maintain its record low interest rates
and a "go big" U.S. stimulus plan are all stoking
optimism despite the coronavirus pandemic.
A deep freeze in Texas has continued to drive up oil prices
too, as the unusually cold weather hampers output in the largest
U.S. crude-producing state.
Brent crude LCOc1 topped $65 a barrel for the first time
in over a year on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
.CLc1 rose to $61.80 a barrel. Both are up over 300% since
last April. Benchmark copper prices on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3
rose as much as 2.4% to $8,595 a tonne as well. That is their
strongest level since April 2012 and nearly double what they
fell to in March last year as COVID worries erupted.
Gold, considered an inflation hedge, snapped a five-day
losing streak. Emerging-market stocks broke their longest
winning streak since June as investors seized an opportunity to
cash in some gains.
In South Africa, shares .JTOPI were set for their worst
day in three weeks after a study showed that Pfizer's vaccine
might not be effective against the country's aggressive COVID
variant. The world's best-performing currency this year - the Turkish
lira - climbed another 0.5% as the central bank maintained its
17% interest rates and reiterated it could raise them again if
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Best and worst performing markets over the last wek https://tmsnrt.rs/3awQjoe
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