GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares slip as fiscal talks sour

* Wall Street turns lower on signs "fiscal cliff" talks

stall

* World shares at 17-month highs, European stocks also rally

* Euro at multi-month highs vs dollar, yen

* Brent crude rises above $110 a barrel

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - World stocks trimmed gains on

Wednesday after reaching a 17-month high as talks to avert the

U.S. "fiscal cliff" appeared to stall, braking a surge in the

euro as it rose on an improved economic outlook for Germany.

Wall Street turned lower as a rise in tensions in Washington

threatened to unravel significant progress made over the last

week in talks to slow the growth of the country's $16 trillion

debt.

President Barack Obama accused Republicans of digging in

their heels due to a personal grudge against him. Republican

speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, called

Obama "irrational."

Boehner said the House on Thursday would pass legislation

that would prevent tax increases on all income below $1 million

- something that Obama has threatened to veto.

Global equity markets and other assets seen as "risky" rose

earlier in the session on expectations the impasse over the U.S.

budget will be resolved. Oil prices rose on hopes a resolution

to the fiscal cliff would spur crude demand.

"There was a risk-on tone when we started the day globally.

All markets were looking to go higher, and I think crude has fed

off that," said Addison Armstrong, director of market research

at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 98.99

points, or 0.74 percent, at 13,251.97. The Standard & Poor's 500

Index fell 10.98 points, or 0.76 percent, at 1,435.81.

The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 10.17 points, or 0.33

percent, at 3,044.36.

Brent crude settled $1.52 higher at $110.36 a barrel

as it headed toward its highest close in two weeks. U.S. oil

gained $1.58 to settle at $89.51.

Equity markets in Europe rose as a key business survey in

Germany bolstered investor sentiment by suggesting that Germany,

Europe's biggest economy, was likely to bounce back quickly from

a slowdown.

The growing German confidence also lifted the euro to a

16-month high against the yen and an 8-1/2-month peak versus the

U.S. dollar, while Brent oil rose toward $110 a barrel.

Investors gave little importance to data that showed U.S.

homebuilding permits touched their highest level in nearly 4-1/2

years in November, while ground-breaking activity dropped.

In Europe, top company shares scaled 18-month highs on

expectations the U.S. fiscal debacle will be averted.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.41 percent to end

at 1,142.13, just off a 19-month closing high.

The better tone evident earlier was supported by the U.S.

Federal Reserve's efforts to boost the U.S. recovery, signs of

growing economic momentum in China and talk that Japan is set

for a policy shift to lift itself out of recession.

The latest German Ifo Institute survey of 7,000 firms

bolstered this sentiment by finding that business confidence had

improved for a second straight month in December, in part

because of better export prospects.

The brighter outlook pushed MSCI's all-country world equity

index to levels last seen in July 2011. But the

index trimmed gains, rising 0.09 percent to 341.75 on Wednesday.

The yen weakened to its lowest point in more than 18 months

against the dollar on expectations the Bank of Japan will ease

monetary policy at the end of a two-day policy meeting on

Thursday.

The euro rose 0.05 percent to 1.3236 to the dollar

after hitting 112.49, its highest since August 2011. Against the

yen, it gained 0.30 percent to 111.70, its highest

since August 2011.

The dollar index fell 0.05 percent to 79.325 after

hitting a two-month low of 79.008.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose

5/32 in price to yield 1.8014 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-markets-world-shares-slip-fiscal-talks-sour-215805918--sector.html

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