* World equity index set for eighth day of gains
* Commodity index poised for best week since 2012
* Fed minutes cool rate rise prospects; dollar at 3-week low
* Brent on track for best week since 2009
* Zinc soars on Glencore output cut
(Updates with European shares close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Major world stock markets were
poised for their biggest weekly advance since 2011 on Friday, as
greater investor appetite for riskier assets propelled gains in
equities and a surge in commodities and crude oil prices.
Declines in the dollar, a bullish oil forecast and giant
miner Glencore's GLEN.L pledge Friday to slash world zinc
output by 4 percent have lifted beaten-down commodities, with
Brent crude oil headed for its biggest weekly rise since March
2009.
The U.S. dollar hit a three-week low against the euro as
minutes from the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting
showed the Fed in no rush to raise interest rates. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N128230
The MSCI all-country world equity index .MIWD00000PUS
climbed 0.6 percent, for its eighth daily gain. It was up 4.3
percent for the week, its biggest weekly advance since 2011.
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB Index
.TRJCRB , a global benchmark for commodities, was up 4.8
percent on the week and was poised for its biggest gain since
2012.
"After a harsh selloff in commodities, followed up by the
recent weakness for global equities over global growth concerns,
we are now having a risk-on trade," said Chris Jarvis,
commodities analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Frederick,
Maryland, referring to investors' appetite for assets considered
riskier, such as stocks and commodities.
Zinc jumped more than 11 percent, in its biggest daily gain
in seven years, after the Glencore news. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1285EM Glencore
shares were on track for a gain of about 40 percent on the week,
their biggest weekly rise since being floated in mid-2011, and
doubling from a record low reached only two weeks ago.
U.S. stocks were modestly lower, as concerns over the
outlook for earnings weighed on sentiment. Aluminum company
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) AA.N shares were down 5.4 percent following
disappointing results.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 19.44 points,
or 0.11 percent, to 17,031.31, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.42
points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,008.01 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 1.79 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,812.58.
Still, for the week, the S&P 500 was on track for its best
gain since December, with the S&P energy index .SPNY up about
7.7 percent.
The FTSEuroFirst index of the leading 300 European shares
closed up 0.4 percent .FTEU3 .
In the foreign exchange market, the euro was last up 0.59
percent against the dollar at $1.12430 EUR=EBS , while a dollar
index .DXY was down 0.6 percent.
The Fed minutes revealed the extent to which policymakers
are concerned that a global economic slowdown might threaten the
U.S. economic outlook. Though they said overseas turmoil had not
"materially altered" economic prospects, they opted to hold
interest rates steady last month. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N128230
An unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs report for September last
week led many investors to speculate that the Fed will not
deliver its first hike until 2016, a feeling strengthened by the
contents of the minutes.
BRENT CLIMBS ON WEEK
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were down 0.2 percent at
$52.96 but on course for a rise of more than 10 percent on the
week, which would be its biggest weekly gain since 2009.
U.S. crude was up 0.8 percent at $49.82 a barrel CLc1 . Oil
got a boost overnight after forecaster PIRA Energy Group
predicted crude prices would rise to $70 per barrel by the end
of 2016. ID:nL1N1281EF
Three-month zinc futures CMZN3 were up 11.2 percent on the
London Metal Exchange at $1,854 a tonne after Glencore said it
will cut production by 500,000 tonnes, a third of its output and
equivalent to 4 percent of the world's production. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1285EM
Zinc had fallen 30 percent since May to a five-year low, so
the rebound could mark the bottom of the market and the
commodities complex in general, some analysts said.
Benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes US10YT=RR were last
little changed in price to yield 2.108 percent.