* China GDP grows 6.4%, industrial output surges in March
* NZ dollar dives on soft inflation data
* Copper hits nine-month high after China data
* GRAPHIC-World FX rates in 2019: http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Stocks around the globe fell on Wednesday as a continued flight from healthcare shares dragged on Wall Street, overshadowing upbeat economic data from China.
The S&P 500 .SPX dipped as the healthcare index .SPXHC dived 2.9% to erase its year-to-date gains on continued fallout from concerns about potential changes to U.S. policy, including a "Medicare for All" proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders. lagging right now, and that's pure regulatory risk," said Shawn Cruz, manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade in Jersey City, New Jersey. "Some companies have raised guidance or shown solid growth out of their drugs, and they still were hurt."
The decline in U.S. stocks weighed on MSCI's 47-country world index .MIWD00000PUS , which was buoyed earlier by better-than-expected Chinese data showing the country's economy grew 6.4% in the first quarter. emerging market stocks index .MSCIEF , by contrast, maintained a 0.3% gain on the strength of the Chinese data.
China's industrial output surged 8.5% in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace since July 2014 and well above forecasts of a 5.9% increase. Retail sales also pleased, with a rise of 8.7%. Global Investors strategist and portfolio manager Neil Dwane said the data had been good enough to allay fears that China's economy was collapsing, although the rest of the year remained in question.
"Beijing will now be in a wait-and-see mode to gauge whether it has done enough," Dwane said, referring to stimulus efforts. "To be bullish (on stocks) from here you would have to believe in a pretty strong global recovery in the second half... We are a bit more ho-hum."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 3.12 points, or 0.01%, to 26,449.54, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 6.61 points, or 0.23%, to 2,900.45 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 4.15 points, or 0.05%, to 7,996.08.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.08%.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.5922%, from 2.594% late on Tuesday. euro EUR= edged up 0.1% to $1.1296, recovering from losses driven by a Reuters report that several European Central Bank policymakers think the bank's economic projections are too optimistic. currency on the move was the New Zealand dollar NZD= , which sank 0.6% to $0.6721 after annual consumer price inflation came in well below expectations, at just 1.5% for the first quarter. L3N21Y4Y3
Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar .DXY was little changed. commodity markets, copper CMCU3 touched a nine-month high on strong Chinese economic data and ended 0.9% higher at $6,556 per tonne. gold XAU= , by contrast, slipped to its lowest for the year. It was last down 0.2% at $1,274.25 per ounce. prices edged lower, reversing course from earlier gains as U.S. government data showed inventories were drawn down less than an industry report had suggested on Tuesday. crude CLc1 settled at $63.76 a barrel, down 29 cents for a 0.45% decline. Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 settled at $71.62 a barrel, down 10 cents for a 0.14% drop.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC-Asia stock markets
https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 GRAPHIC-Asia-Pacific valuations
https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA GRAPHIC-World FX rates in 2019
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh GRAPHIC-World stocks bounce $7.5 trillion since late December
https://tmsnrt.rs/2IoRV6P
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>