* Caution ahead of oil producers' meeting caps stocks
* China economy grows 6.7 pct in Q1 as expected
* Shares steady after 2.5 pct weekly rise, at 2016 highs
* Oil dips ahead of Doha meet after 11 pct April jump
By Marc Jones
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Reassuring Chinese GDP data
helped stocks, commodity markets and the dollar consolidate
strong weekly gains on Friday, as focus turned to a meeting of
top oil producers about a potential output freeze.
Moves in most markets were small in Europe as investors
eased back after a 2.5 percent weekly rally in world shares
.MIWD00000PUS , a upward turn in the dollar and an 11 percent
surge in oil prices this month.
Data from China drew approval as it showed the country's
giant economy grew at 6.7 percent in the first quarter
year-on-year, bolstering the view its slowdown may be bottoming
out. ECONCN
The major currencies seen as most dependent on China were
the main gainers. The Australian AUD= and New Zealand dollars
NZD= rose 0.3 and 0.9 percent respectively, also helped by the
week's gains in key commodity prices. CMCU3
The U.S. dollar .DXY was starting to ease back on the
pedal again too, having made more than 1 percent against both
the yen JPY= and the euro EUR= this week. FRX/
Traders were waiting for IMF and G20 meetings in Washington
later for signs from financial leaders on the next stages of
their efforts to drag most of the developed world out of a
debilitating cycle of debt and very low inflation.
Speculation was also still circling about whether top oil
producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia will be able to hammer
a deal in Doha, Qatar on Sunday to curb output which is
currently churning out around 2 million barrels of excess oil a
day.
"This week we had some interesting movements especially in
euro/dollar and dollar/yen and a widespread rebound in market
sentiment," said Rabobank economist Philip Marey, adding
Thursday's surprise move by Singapore's central bank to ease
policy had fuelled hopes of another round of global stimulus.
The temptation to lock in profits was proving strong.
European shares edged down 0.4 percent as traders top-sliced
some the 3.5 percent gains they have made this week.
Nerves about Greece's finances are also resurfacing.
Greek bond yields were set to record their biggest weekly
rise in two months as investors start to fret about delays to
Athens' bailout package and over the extent to which the IMF
will participate in a new deal.
The head of IMF, Christine Lagarde had reiterated on
Thursday the euro zone needed to write off some of Athens' debt
and rework plans to get the country back on track.
"We will not walk away," Lagarde said during a
question-and-answer session. "Our form of participation may vary
depending on the commitments of Greece and the undertaking of
the European partners, but we will not walk away."
NOT SO BADI
In a sign of re-emerging risk appetite, the Baltic Dry index
.BADI which reflects global shipping and trade and seen as
somewhat of a bellwether of the global economy, was on course
for a ninth straight weekly rise, its best run since 2003.
"Chinese economic data is showing signs of stabilisation,
including recent PMI numbers, as well as the latest figures on
industrial production and retail sales," said Suan Teck Kin,
economist at the United Overseas Bank in Singapore.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 , one of the biggest losers of the
2016 so far, closed down 0.3 percent on the day but 6.5 percent
higher for the week following the drop back in the yen.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS crept up 0.1 percent. That index has gained
about 3.6 percent on the week during which it hit a five-month
high, helped by a slight thaw in pessimism over the Chinese
economy and an earlier surge in crude oil prices.
It is part of a global rise. Both the MSCI All World index
.MIWD00000PUS and the S&P 500 .SPX have hit their highest
points of the year this week.
With oil traders waiting for the Doha meeting, U.S. crude
oil CLc1 dropped 50 cents to $41 a barrel, while Brent was
$43.50 a barrel LCOc1 .
Safe-haven gold was on course for a weekly loss, while
sterling was steady and up slightly on the week at $1.4155
GBP=D4 as it moved away from a low of $1.4091 hit after Bank
of England policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates
at a record low of 0.5 percent.