* Oil prices lower
* European stocks end lower
* S&P 500 down slightly
* U.S. benchmark yields down
(Adds that sterling positive after Brexit campaigning
suspended)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Sterling advanced on Thursday
as campaigning for Britain's vote on whether to leave the
European Union was suspended following the murder of a British
lawmaker, while U.S. stocks cut losses.
British Member of Parliament Jo Cox, who was shot dead in
the street in her constituency in northern England earlier in
the day, had been a vocal supporter of Britain remaining within
the EU.
Whether Britain will leave the European Union, dubbed
"Brexit," is an issue that will be decided in a referendum next
week and could undermine decades of European integration and
stoke global economic uncertainty.
"Certainly, people are talking about the possibility that
this does influence the Brexit vote in favor of remain. It is a
tragic event all around. There is a sense, there is an immediate
emotional reaction, but there is still a week before the
referendum itself" on June 23, said Alan Ruskin, global co-head
of FX research at Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) in New York.
The British pound hit a U.S. trading high GBP= after the
news, and was last up slightly at $1.4207.
Rival referendum campaign groups in Britain said they were
suspending activities for the day and Prime Minister David
Cameron said he would pull out of a planned rally in Gibraltar,
the British territory on the southern coast of Spain.
U.S. stocks, which had tumbled earlier on global growth
worries, cut losses and the Dow briefly traded higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 17.67 points,
or 0.1 percent, at 17,657.84, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.41
points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,069.09 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 10.81 points, or 0.22 percent, to 4,824.12.
The European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 closed down 0.5
percent.
Oil prices slumped about 3 percent and were down a sixth
straight day as the dollar's rally on fears of Britain's exit
from the EU hammered commodities priced in the currency.
Data showing U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected
also weighed on oil prices. Brent crude futures
LCOc1 were down $1.52 at $47.45, while U.S. crude futures
CLc1 were down $1.61 at $46.40.
Yields on most U.S. Treasury yields rose to session highs
after British campaigning for the Brexit vote was suspended
following MP Cox's death.
Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR rose
to a session high of 1.581 percent, after earlier falling to
1.518 percent, the lowest level since August 2012.