* Brent crude at 29-mth high, near $120 a barrel on Libya
* World stocks, copper fall for 4th day in a row
* Gold, Swiss francs, Treasury prices up
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices hit 29-month highs on
Thursday to near $120 a barrel on growing fears that the unrest
in Libya could spread to other oil producing countries including
top exporter Saudi Arabia, threatening to derail global growth.
World stocks and copper prices fell for the fourth straight
day as investors cut their risk exposure, while safe-haven gold,
Swiss francs and U.S. Treasury prices rose.
Libyan security has cracked down on anti-government
protesters and fighting has spread to the capital Tripoli after
erupting in Libya's oil-producing east last week with no signs
of leader Muammar Gaddafi stepping down after 41 years in power.
[]
Goldman Sachs said oil markets were driven by fears of
unrest spreading to other producing nations and that another
disruption could create severe oil shortages and require demand
rationing.
"The market cannot accommodate another disruption, in our
view, with the problems in Libya potentially absorbing half of
OPEC's spare capacity," Goldman Sachs' Jeffrey Currie said in a
research note. []
Disruption stemming from the revolt in the world's No. 12
exporter Libya has cut at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of
the country's 1.6 million bpd output, according to Reuters
calculations. []
London Brent crude futures <LCOc1> rose 5.6 percent to trade
above $117 a barrel after touching a 29-month high of $119.79,
while U.S. crude futures <CLc1> advanced 4.3 percent to above
$102 a barrel.
The surge in oil prices is threatening to put an end to the
recovery in the developed economies and add further inflationary
pressure in booming emerging countries.
According to UBS, a $10 increase in oil price will shave off
0.3 percentage points of global growth.
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Graphic on oil price shocks: http://r.reuters.com/qes28r
Graphic on energy use: http://r.reuters.com/qax28r
Unrest in MidEast, N. Africa: []
Analysis on impact on Libyan oil sector: []
Factbox on Libyan oil and gas: []
Interactive factbox http://link.reuters.com/puk87r
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GROWTH THREAT
"There has been another spike in oil and the general unrest
in the Middle East has knocked all the confidence out the
market," Mark Priest, senior equities trader at ETX Capital in
London, said. "We cannot see a turnaround unless suddenly the
situation is resolved in Libya."
World equities measured by MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> dropped 0.3 percent, falling for the fourth day
in a row after hitting a 30-month high on Friday. The index is
still up 2.3 percent this year.
MSCI emerging markets index <.MSCIEF> lost 0.9 percent to
extend the loss for the year to 5.7 percent as investors shift
out of developing economies to developed markets on concerns
over higher inflation.
Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 <> index lost 0.8 percent,
while the VDAX-NEW volatility index <.V1XI>, a fear gauge, rose
6.5 percent to hit a two-month high. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei
average <> fell to a three-week low, down 1.2 percent.
SHELTERS SOUGHT
The dollar was down 0.8 percent at 0.9257 Swiss francs
<CHF=> and 0.7 percent at 81.91 yen <JPY=>, while the euro lost
0.6 percent to 1.2755 francs <EURCHF=>.
"There is a lot of safe haven demand for the Swiss and the
yen but the dollar's downside against these currencies could be
limited because for a lasting trend to arise you need U.S.
Treasury yields to fall," said Manuel Oliveri, currency
strategist at UBS.
Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries <US10YT=RR>
eased 4 basis points to 3.4403 percent, down about 33 basis
points from a nine-month high hit earlier this month.
Gold <XAU=> added 0.3 percent after gaining 0.9 percent in
the previous session, though copper <CMCU3> eased 1 percent
after falling 4.4 percent in the previous three sessions.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Joanne Frearson and
Neal Armstrong in London, and Luke Pachymuthu in Singapore;
Graphics by Scott Barber; Editing by Toby Chopra)
