* Shares fall on weak commodities, pharma weighs on Wall St
* BOJ downgrades economy view, but yen firms vs greenback
* Oil falls again as oversupply worries resurface
(Updates with U.S. markets)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - Stocks in major markets fell
on Tuesday, weighed by basic materials shares after weak U.S.
retail sales data and as the Bank of Japan painted a bleaker
picture of the world's third-largest economy without immediately
adding to its stimulus.
The yen rose sharply against the U.S. dollar, crude oil and
copper prices dropped, and emerging market shares fell the most
in more than a month.
U.S. retail sales fell less than expected in February, but a
sharp downward revision to January's sales could reignite
concerns about the U.S. economy's growth prospects.
Wall Street opened down but stocks were off the session's
lows. Energy shares fell alongside the price of oil and
healthcare weighed the most on the S&P 500 hurt by a more than
40 percent drop in shares of Valeant.
The Canadian drugmaker slashed its 2016 revenue forecast and
said a delay in filing its annual report could mean a debt
default.
Following the BOJ statement and last week's European Central
Bank action, investors seemed to be prepared for a hawkish tone
when the Federal Reserve ends its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
Recent data suggested the U.S. economy is strengthening,
however, with fears of recession much diminished compared with
earlier this year.
"The Fed meeting is important because ... there is a risk of
a hawkish statement," RIA Capital Markets bond strategist Nick
Stamenkovic said. "Investors will wait for the statement and the
(interest rate and economic growth expectations) before taking
new positions."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 16.67 points,
or 0.1 percent, to 17,212.46, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.89
points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,011.75 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 17.53 points, or 0.37 percent, to 4,732.75.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index .FTEU3 fell
1 percent, led by commodity-related stocks. The STOXX Europe 600
Basic Resources index .SXPP was down 5.1 percent.
MSCI's gauge of stocks in major markets .MIWD00000PUS fell
0.8 percent while emerging market shares .MSCIEF dropped 1.8
percent, the most since Feb. 11.
YEN RALLY
The yen strengthened after the BOJ removed from its
post-meeting statement language used after it cut rates in
January that it would lower them further into negative territory
if needed.
The dollar was down 0.7 percent at 113.00 yen JPY= .
"The yen was already strengthening," said Vassili
Serebriakov, currency strategist at BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) in New York. The
U.S. retail sales data "just added to the mood of risk aversion,
which is what's helping the yen against the dollar."
The euro EUR= was little changed against the greenback at
$1.1098. Sterling GBP= fell 1 percent to $1.4152 after a new
opinion poll showed supporters of Britain leaving the European
Union were ahead in the run-up to a June referendum on the
issue.
Oil prices, which fell up to 4 percent on Monday, dropped
further after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) said it expected lower demand for crude in 2016
than previously thought.
Brent crude LCOc1 last traded down 2.3 percent at $38.64 a
barrel, further taking from a six-week recovery in oil prices
that has helped buoy stocks markets. U.S. crude CLc1 lost 2.8
percent to $36.15.
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed with the 10-year
note US10YT=RR up 1/32 in price to yield 1.9592 percent.
Spot gold XAU= fell for a third straight session and five
of the last six. Copper CMCU3 shed 0.3 percent.