GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares near record high, euro upbeat on Fed, earnings

* European stocks steady, U.S. futures down 0.3%
* France Q1 GDP above expectations, Germany below
* China, Japan stocks dip ahead of long holiday
* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn

By Carolyn Cohn and Hideyuki Sano
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - World stocks held near a record
high and the euro was on course for its best month in nine as
strong U.S. data and corporate earnings plus the Federal
Reserve's commitment to support the economy fuelled investors'
appetite for risk.
MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets
.MIWD00000PUS dipped 0.1% but remained close to a record peak
touched the previous day, up 5% on the month.
In Europe, euro Stoxx futures .STOXX were steady and
Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE traded up 0.2%.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 were down 0.3% after the S&P 500
.SPX closed at an all-time high.
"The Federal Reserve continues to support, Biden has this
huge stimulus programme as well and the earnings season
continues -- so far we have seen relatively benign as well as
strong earnings," said Eddie Cheng, head of international
multi-asset portfolio management at Wells Fargo Asset
Management.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. economic growth accelerated in
the first quarter, fuelled by massive government aid to
households and businesses. That came against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's
reassurance on Wednesday that it was not time yet to begin
discussing any change in its easy monetary policy. With just over a half of S&P 500 companies reporting
earnings, about 87% beat market expectations, according to
Refinitiv, the highest level in recent years.
For both the MSCI world index and the S&P500, analysts are
expecting earnings in the next 12 months to recover to above
pre-pandemic levels.
Preliminary euro zone GDP data at 0900 GMT, meanwhile, is
expected to show a drop of 2% in the first quarter, according to
a Reuters poll, which would mean a fall into a technical
recession, say Commerzbank analysts.
"However, there is increasingly bright light at the end of
the tunnel," they added.
"The speed of the vaccinations is picking up and the EU
recovery fund is also finally getting off the ground."
France, the euro zone's second-biggest economy, saw stronger
than expected growth in the first quarter, though Q1 GDP in
largest economy Germany fell more than expected on a seasonally
adjusted basis. Germany's 10-year Bund yield, which moves inversely to
price, slipped 0.009% to -0.202% DE10YT=RR .
New coronavirus infections in India surged to a fresh record
and France's health minister said the dangers of the Indian
variant must not be underestimated. "Risky assets have had quite a few wobbles within the
month," said Cheng.
"We need to get used to the fact that this is not going to
be a straight line."
The euro extended its bull run to a two-month high of
$1.2150 in the previous session and it last stood at $1.2100
EUR= , down 0.15%. With 3.2% gains so far this month, the
single currency is on course for its biggest monthly rise in
nine months.
The dollar was steady against the yen at 108.86 JPY= . It
gained 0.13% against a basket of currencies =USD , after
hitting a two-month low on Thursday.
The Canadian dollar hit a three-year high of C$1.22680 per
U.S. unit CAD=D4 , boosted by the Bank of Canada's tapering of
its bond-buying programme and higher commodities including oil
and lumber.
In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan index lost 0.9% .MIAPJ0000PUS ,
following a softer-than-expected survey of China's
manufacturing.
Chinese tech giant shares listed in Hong Kong also buckled
as Beijing summoned 13 internet platforms to order them to
strengthen compliance with regulations, weighing on the Hang
Seng .HSI index. Mainland Chinese shares .CSI300 lost 0.8% while Japan's
Nikkei .N225 also shed 0.8% on position adjustments ahead of a
long weekend. Both markets will be closed through Wednesday.
Oil prices took a breather after hitting six-week highs on
strong U.S. economic data, on concerns about wider lockdowns in
India and Brazil.
Brent LCOc1 slipped 0.54% to $68.19 per barrel, after
having hit a high of $68.95 on Thursday, while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.78% to $64.50 per barrel CLc1 .

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(Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Raju Gopalakrishnan, William
Maclean)