World stocks fell from this week's one-month high on Thursday and the euro and oil prices dropped as worries about Spain's public finances encouraged investors to cut back on risky assets, according to Reuters. The spread of Spanish government bond yields over benchmark Bunds soared to a euro lifetime high with the market watching the auction of up to 3.5 billion euros of 10- and 30-year bonds later in the day to gauge investor appetite. "A failure to cover these auctions could see some of the risk appetite that has returned this week dissipate very quickly," said Michael Hewson, currency analyst at CMC Markets. The MSCI world equity index fell 0.3 percent after hitting the one-month high on Wednesday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index lost a quarter percent. Oil major BP surged more than 6 percent after saying it will set up a $20 billion fund for damage claims from its huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, sell assets and suspend dividend payments to shareholders. Emerging stocks were up 0.1 percent. The euro fell 0.4 percent to $1.2245 while it also lost two thirds of a percent to 111.71 yen. The dollar rose half a percent against a basket of major currencies. The European Union and International Monetary Fund denied on Wednesday a report they and the U.S. Treasury were drawing up a safety net for Spain. But worries about Spanish banks put pressure on yields and the market will be looking for the results of bank stress tests which the Spanish central bank said would be published soon. The European Union holds a summit on Thursday to discuss ways to strengthen budget discipline and economic policy coordination. Bund futures rose 8 ticks. Spanish/German 10-year spreads rose as high as 233 basis points. U.S. crude oil fell more than one percent to $76.84 a barrel.
