* MSCI world equity index down 0.4 pct at 299.45
* Weak banking, resource shares push Europe lower
* Oil tumbles; yen rises broadly
By Natsuko Waki
LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - World stocks slipped on Tuesday
from the previous day's six-week high and oil fell nearly 2
percent, while the yen rose broadly as investors grew cautious
after a recent rally in riskier assets.
Sterling hit a one-week low against the dollar, weighed by
data showing a widening UK trade deficit and comments by Fitch
Ratings that the UK sovereign credit Profile has deteriorated.
U.S. technology shares rallied on Monday after JP Morgan
Chase recommended Cisco Systems <CSCO.O> to investors while an
analyst's upgrade sent Research in Motion <RIMM.O> higher.
But Asia and Europe failed to keep up the momentum and U.S.
stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street later.
Robust corporate performance and upbeat fourth-quarter
corporate results have helped investors push the benchmark MSCI
world stocks up to a break-even level for the year after an
early pullback, giving investors incentives to pause.
"The market had a good recovery after correction lows and it
would be tough in the near term, even though you are still in a
cyclical bull market, to just race ahead. People are still
cautious," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB
Stockbrokers in Dublin.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 0.4 percent
while the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> lost 0.8 percent. U.S.
stock futures fell around 0.4 percent <SPc1>.
Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> were down 0.3 percent.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> was one of the biggest movers, falling
2 percent to $80.22 a barrel, after hitting an 8-week peak above
$82 a day earlier. Forecasts for growing U.S. crude inventories
tempered recent bullish sentiment.
"Forecasts of yet another build in U.S. crude stocks show
the disconnect between the fundamentals of oil supply and
demand, which are quite bearish, and hopes of economic recovery,
which are bullish," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
"But the market doesn't seem to want to hear negative news
for long and tends to react more strongly on the upside. It is
two steps upwards, one step down at the moment."
Bund futures <FGBLc1> rose 46 ticks.
The dollar <.DXY> was up 0.4 percent against a basket of
major currencies. The yen rose 0.6 percent to 89.82 per dollar
<JPY=> while the euro lost 0.6 percent to $1.3557 <EUR=>.
Sterling fell as low as $1.4940 <GBP=>. Fitch also said
urgency for fiscal adjustment was greatest for the UK, Spain and
France among the larger AAA sovereigns.
The premium Greek/German government bond yield spread
<GR10YT=RR> <EU10YT=RR> widened 7 basis points to 295 bps, while
Portuguese/German and Spain/German spreads also widened.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by Stephen
Nisbet)