* Stock markets wobble on prospect of U.S. rate move
* Dollar index surges to 3-month high
* U.S. 2-year yield hits 4-1/2-year high
* Company results prop up European shares
By Patrick Graham
LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The dollar surged to a three-month
high and European and Asian stock markets dipped on Thursday as
expectations hardened of the first rise in U.S. interest rates
in almost a decade coming next month.
Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen and two senior colleagues
pointed to December as a "live possibility" for a rise, adding
to signs that the U.S. central bank is again on the verge of
moving after months of vacillating over the domestic and global
economy's ability to deal with higher borrowing costs.
An adverse reaction from global markets to September's
policy meeting put the Fed off raising rates when many had
expected it to, but there have been some signs this time that
investors have grown more sanguine about the likely fallout.
European stocks, after gaining initially on another batch of
upbeat corporate results, were down 0.1-0.3 percent.
"Markets are still digesting what Yellen said yesterday and
whether it means multiple rate hikes ahead," Peregrine and Black
trader, Markus Huber, said.
"A December rate hike seems to be very likely now again.
Investors are also taking a little bit of money off the table as
well ahead of tomorrow's non-farm payrolls."
Money-market pricing showed a greater than 50-percent chance
of a rate rise next month and the dollar index .DXY , which
tracks the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.15
percent to 98.135, after an 0.8 percent jump on Wednesday.
Currency analysts and traders say many speculative and
longer-term players have weighed in this week behind another run
higher for the dollar, after a stuttering performance over the
past six months. EUR=
It rose as high as $1.0834 per euro on Thursday before
steadying.
Some of the Asian markets most exposed to a rise in U.S.
interest rates had followed Wall Street lower overnight after
Yellen's comments. .MIAPJ0000PUS But Shanghai, where a boom in
borrowing in dollars makes companies among the most at risk from
higher dollar rates, rose about 2 percent.
The crunch now will be U.S. data over the next few weeks.
U.S. data on Wednesday supported Yellen's guarded optimism, with
private employers hiring steadily in October and a jump in new
orders buoying activity in the services sector.
Influential non-farm payroll numbers are due on Friday.
According to data from Thomson Reuters StarMine, 50 percent
of European companies reporting so far this quarter have met or
beaten analysts' earnings forecasts.
European stock and bond markets are also increasingly sure
that the European Central Bank will do the opposite to the Fed
and pump yet more cash into the euro zone economy next month.
The gap between U.S. and German two-year bond yields spread
to its widest levels in nine years, emphasising the diverging
outlook for policy on either side of the Atlantic. Yields on
U.S. two-year notes rose to their highest in 4-1/2 years.
US2YT=RR
"It looks like we have to seriously prepare for the prospect
of the two major central banks embarking on opposing paths of
monetary policy in December," ING's senior rate strategist
Martin van Vliet said.
On oil markets, Brent crude futures LCOc1 steadied, up 0.7
percent on the day at $48.95 per barrel after falling from
Tuesday's three-week high of $50.91.