* Emerging markets on track for 5th straight day of gains
* Wall St slips as investors await monthly jobs data
* Oil edges up for 4th day
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Dion Rabouin
NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Shares on major equity markets
worldwide touched two-month highs on Thursday, led by emerging
markets, as concerns eased about global growth and commodities
prices extended their recovery.
Emerging markets stocks .MSCIEF rose 1.4 percent, the
fifth straight day of gains, their longest winning streak so far
this year. Wall Street was modestly lower, but U.S. stocks have
recovered notably from lows reached in February.
The MSCI emerging markets index was on track for its biggest
weekly gain since October 2015, led by South African shares,
which rose to their highest in three months. The rally has
followed a cut in reserve requirements for Chinese banks earlier
in the week, a move that analysts say could add $100 billion to
the Chinese economy.
"(The rise) could also be a reaction to the January selloff
- it may have been a bit overdone. It was all very
doom-and-gloom at the time, but emerging markets aren't falling
off a cliff," said William Jackson, senior EM economist at
Capital Economics.
Emerging market stocks fell nearly 17 percent in 2015, and
more than 6.5 percent in January, as investors pulled back on
riskier stock markets due to concern about weak demand
worldwide. That concern was fanned by sharp falloffs in
commodities prices, particularly oil.
Since then, oil has recovered some of its losses, though it
still trades far below its average over the last year. On
Thursday, Brent crude LCOc1 rose 0.4 percent to $37.06 and
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 0.9 percent to $34.94.
Commodities have surged in tandem with the return of risk
appetite that has swept markets over the past two weeks. Copper
prices hit their highest since November, backed largely by the
stimulus news from China. Copper CMCU3 was up 1.3 percent on
the day.
China accounts for nearly half of global copper consumption
estimated at about 22 million tonnes this year. China's demand
growth slowed to about 2 percent last year, compared with more
than 5 percent in previous years.
Zinc was up 1.1 percent at $1,834 and lead gained 0.7
percent to $1,830.
MSCI's world equity index .MIWD00000PUS rose 0.36 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 62.25 points,
or 0.37 percent, to 16,837.07, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.06
points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,979.39 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 25.09 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,678.33.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 stock index
dipped 0.4 percent but held within sight of Wednesday's
one-month peak.
The U.S. non-manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace
in February from January, pushing down the dollar, which makes
dollar-denominated commodities more attractive for non-U.S.
firms when it falls.
The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback
against six major rivals, was down 0.4 percent.
U.S. Treasury US10YT=RR prices were flat as investors
looked ahead to Friday's key employment report. A solid jobs
report could bolster expectations that the Federal Reserve
remains on track to raise interest rates later this year. The
10-year U.S. benchmark was down 3/32 to yield 1.85 percent.