(Recasts top, updates throughout, changes byline, dateline,
previous LONDON)
* US, European stocks dip on weaker euro zone, China data
* Japan bond yields plunge to record low; 2-yr at -0.10 pct
* Oil fades after recent gains
By David Gaffen
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Global markets got February off
to a cautious start on Monday following a rocky January, with
stocks and oil falling in the wake of weak manufacturing reports
around the world.
U.S. and European stocks fell, after disappointing euro zone
manufacturing data dovetailed with the fastest contraction in
China's giant factory sector in over three years, and U.S.
manufacturing sentiment remained weak.
Those surveys showed the new year began much as the old one
ended, with too much capacity chasing too little demand.
Economists were expecting a similar picture from the United
States.
"My main question is will the U.S. economy be able to
continue to grow just through the services sector when the
manufacturing sector is having such a tough time?" asked
Rabobank U.S.-focused economist Philip Marey.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 58.9 points, or
0.36 percent, to 16,407.4, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.6 points,
or 0.39 percent, to 1,932.64 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
dropped 10.26 points, or 0.22 percent, to 4,603.69.
Oil prices, the other major factor influencing markets this
year, also fell. U.S. crude CLc1 was down nearly 5 percent to
$31.96, resuming a downtrend that had been interrupted of late
on hopes for production cuts. Brent LCOc1 dipped as well,
falling 3.7 percent to $34.65 a barrel.
Still, Brent was up from Friday and more than 30 percent
higher than its 12-year low of almost $27 less than two weeks
ago.
It was under pressure Monday as a senior OPEC source told a
Saudi Arabian newspaper it was too early to talk about an
emergency meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) to stem the persisting drop in prices amid a
world glut
Crude jumped last week after Russian energy officials said
Saudi Arabia had made proposals to manage output and was ready
to talk.
Friday's surprise move by Japan to cut interest rates to
negative levels continued to provide support for bonds. Japanese
government bond yields hit record lows, and bets the European
Central Bank will cut its rates again next month also sent
German five-year bond yields DE5YT=TWEB to all-time lows.
GVD/EUR
In the United States, however, the bond market was lower,
with the 10-year benchmark yield US10YT=RR rising to 1.95
percent.
In currency markets, the yen had steady at around 121.20 to
the dollar JPY= and 131.40 to the euro EURJPY= . Friday's BoJ
move set off its biggest one-day fall - roughly 2 percent- in
over a year. FRX/
Elsewhere, oil-rich Canada's dollar fell half a percent
against its U.S. counterpart CAD=D4 after the weak economic
data dragged oil prices LCOc1 down from overnight highs as
lofty as $36 a barrel. Fellow oil exporter Norway's currency
slipped 0.3 percent versus the euro.
MSCI's 46-country All World share index .MIWD00000PUS ,
which lost over 6 percent last month in its worst start to a
year since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008,
was in the red, slipping 0.1 percent.
Chinese stocks .SSEC .CSI300 slipped more than 1 percent
after the weak data strengthened calls for more stimulus.
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Oil prices http://link.reuters.com/beb23v
China PMIs http://link.reuters.com/zut45w
Commodities performance http://link.reuters.com/rac73w
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