World stocks slid on Wednesday after a mixed report on U.S. durable goods orders reignited doubts about economic recovery while oil prices fell on news of rising U.S. crude stockpiles.

The U.S. dollar gained, retracing the week’s losses, as the durables goods report for July eroded risk appetite and prompted investors to seek shelter in the safe-haven greenback.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods registered the biggest advance since July 2007, but excluding transportation goods, orders for durables were slightly below expectations.

Slippage among global stocks that climbed to 10-month highs this week boosted money flows into less risky assets, such as European government bonds, which also gained from some modest month-end buying, traders said.

Economic data in Europe showed further signs of recovery, as did a report showing U.S. new home sales jumped in July to their fastest pace in 10 months.

But a key measure of U.S. business demand — nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft — fell, reminding investors that the U.S. economy still faces huge challenges as it tries to emerge from deep recession.

Investors in equity markets took profits on a recent run-up in prices, and key commodity prices, such as copper, fell as the U.S. data cast doubt over the speed of economic recovery.

For example, the MSCI all-country world index rose for six straight session through Tuesday, gaining 5.3 percent over the stretch. The index was down 0.5 percent on Wednesday, but still up about 4 percent in August.

“The market has come a long way, and the economics are still supportive,” said Georgina Taylor, an equity strategist at Legal & General Investment Management.

“We’re just seeing a little profit taking. Nothing has been derailed. Housing data is improving. The only area of concern is consumer spending.”

In Britain, retreating mining and oil stocks outweighed modest gains from defensive pharmaceuticals, while energy shares were the biggest drag on a leading European index.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares fell 0.5 percent to close at 973.92. The index is still up more than 50 percent from its lifetime low of March 9.

U.S. stocks seesawed after market sell-offs on Monday and Tuesday led investors to turn skittish.

“Given how extended we are, and relatively overbought, sentiment is going to drive the market’s direction much more than any economic news, at least in the short term,” said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.

Shortly after 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 4.24 points, or 0.04 percent, at 9,535.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> was down 1.74 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,026.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 6.60 points, or 0.33 percent, at 2,017.63.

Oil pared early gains to drop to almost $71 a barrel, extending losses from the previous session, on the rise in U.S. stockpiles of crude.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, reported on Wednesday that crude stocks in the world’s largest energy consumer rose by 200,000 barrels last week.

U.S. crude for October was down $1.00 at $71.05 a barrel, after falling $2.32 on Tuesday.

Brent crude fell 61 cents to $71.21 a barrel after losing $2.44 the previous day.

U.S. government debt prices fell. The benchmark 10-year note was down 4/32 in price to yield 3.45 percent.

Gold eased as the dollar recovered losses against the euro.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery in New York were down $1.00 at $945 an ounce.

The ICE Futures’ dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.6 percent to 78.723. The euro fell about 0.4 percent to $1.4235 .

Japan’s Nikkei share average closed up 1.4 percent <.N225> to a fresh 10-month high, while the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan rose 0.3 percent.

Aug 26 (Reuters)

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