Stocks fall on concerns about global growth, dollar slips

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets fell on Friday, pulled lower by concerns about slumping crude oil prices, while the dollar slipped against the yen on views the Bank of Japan may not ease policy as much as expected.

Investors were cautious in the wake of the euphoria that followed the U.S. Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike in almost a decade earlier in the week.

The yen gained after the BoJ merely tweaked its monthly asset-purchase program, putting a pause in the dollar's rise in recent months on views that the Fed's likely decision to raise interest rates and the BoJ's path of more potential stimulus would drive investment into higher-yielding U.S. assets.

The Fed raised rates on Wednesday for the first time in almost a decade.

"The BoJ's move shows a weak hand," said Jens Nordvig, global head of FX strategy at Nomura in New York. "It suggests the BoJ is out of ammunition, and will not be able to deliver anything meaningful going forward," he said.

The dollar, which had hit a more than two-week high of 123.590 yen, was last down 0.89 percent at 121.46.

The euro was up 0.18 percent against the dollar at $1.0844. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.46 percent at 98.815.

Equities suffered from fatigue after markets had risen in anticipation of the Fed move, while the price of oil was driving investor sentiment on concerns over global growth and a growing supply surplus.

"We had a couple of strong days as a result of the Fed," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief market strategist at Interactive Brokers LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut.

"The market is getting sucked into a fear trade," he said. It's really oil - is it a glut or a global slowdown? But I don't think it's symbolizing a slowdown in the global economy."

MSCI's all-country world stock index fell 0.74 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European share dropped 0.98 percent to 1,420.038.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 186.7 points, or 1.07 percent, to 17,309.14. The S&P 500 slid 15.45 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,026.44 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 21.57 points, or 0.43 percent, to 4,980.99.

Crude oil rebounded after the U.S. benchmark traded well below $35 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude rose 0.86 percent to $37.38 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures gained 1 percent to $35.30 a barrel.

Treasury prices rose. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.2058 percent.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Dan Grebler)