* MSCI world equity index down 0.19 pct at 244.41
* Dollar limps up after slide, China piles on pressure
* Oil steadies, eyes tensions in Nigeria
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - The dollar recovered a little
ground on Monday after falling late last week on a renewed call
by China for a super-sovereign reserve currency, and stocks
traded just below the top of recent ranges.
China, which holds nearly $2 trillion of reserves believed
to be concentrated in dollars, repeated its calls for an end to
the dominance of a single currency in global finance.
[]
World stocks have shuffled sideways in the past few weeks as
investors have questioned how quickly the global economy will
return to growth, giving a boost to battered government bonds
and pushing yields lower.
"It's quite clear that we have lost momentum over the last
week or so. The strong rally that we saw in cyclicals through
the early part of the second quarter has started to fade," said
Darren Winder, head of macro and strategy research at Cazenove.
Many investors are also sticking to the sidelines as the
second quarter winds down and ahead of U.S. and European summer
holidays.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> dipped 0.18
percent, pulling away from 12-day highs hit on Friday. The index
is down over 4 percent from the year's highs set earlier this
month.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> edged up 0.1 percent,
with firmer pharmaceutical and mining stocks outpacing weaker
financial shares.
However, the Shanghai Composite Index <> climbed 1.2
percent to a one-year peak, getting a lift from hopes that
robust bank lending will keep powering the Chinese economy
through the export downturn.
DOLLAR RECOVERS
The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six
major currencies, rose 0.22 percent to 80.049 <.DXY>, off a
two-week low struck on Friday.
The euro retreated 0.17 percent to $1.4024 <EUR=>, while the
dollar was up 0.26 percent at 95.42 yen <JPY=>.
China and Brazil said on the sidelines of a weekend meeting
of central bankers in Basel they were discussing a currency
arrangement to allow exports and importers to settle deals in
local currencies, thereby avoiding the dollar. []
Pressure from emerging market countries to seek an
alternative to the dollar as reserve currency has contributed to
weakness in the U.S. currency in recent weeks.
"Even if a new supra-national currency were created, it
would not be in China's or Russia's interest to reapportion
their reserves in a new direction quickly," said analysts at
Calyon in a client note.
"For an FX market spoiled by the excitement of big moves,
the increasing drift towards range trading must risk dragging in
the summer doldrums prematurely."
Crude oil steadied at $69.15 a barrel <CLc1> as investors
looked to tensions in major exporter Nigeria.
Oil weakened earlier as the supply threat appeared to ease
after four Nigeria militant factions accepted in principle an
amnesty offer from the country's president.
However, Nigerian militants said on Monday they attacked a
Shell <RDSa.L> platform in the Niger delta, despite the amnesty
offer.
Euro zone government bonds were flat. The September Bund
future <FGBLU9> was unchanged from Friday at 120.96.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash, editing by Mike Peacock)
