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* World shares down 0.1%
* Fed meeting, tech earnings in focus
* Copper prices climb towards record
* Dollar steadies, up from multi-week lows
* Yen dips 0.2% vs dollar after BOJ
By Danilo Masoni
MILAN, April 27 (Reuters) - Shares eased from record peaks
on Tuesday as optimism about a global economic recovery was
dented by caution before a policy decision by the Federal
Reserve and earnings updates from a number of blue-chip
companies.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks
shares in 49 countries, fell 0.1% by 1040 GMT, following a muted
session in Asia and slight losses in Europe.
The world index has risen 9% so far this year, underpinned
by expectations that rising COVID-19 vaccination rates will
allow more economies to recover and give a big boost to company
profits.
Earnings in Europe are expected to have risen 61% in the
first quarter, while U.S. profits are seen up more than 31%,
according to the latest Refinitiv IBES estimates.
Many investors however stayed on the sidelines ahead of the
Fed meeting that ends on Wednesday, when the U.S. central bank
is expected to confirm that it will maintain its easy monetary
policy to bolster the economy.
One area of concern was India, which is struggling with
surging coronavirus infections that have overwhelmed its
healthcare system.
Markets were also awaiting for results from U.S. tech
heavyweights Microsoft and Alphabet later on
Tuesday. Companies that represent about 40% of the S&P 500's
market capitalization report from Tuesday through Thursday.
"There are yet to be any real punctures in the global risk
balloon at the moment," wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.
"We'll have to wait and see if these upcoming events might throw
this off course."
Some analysts say the recent rally has made stocks
vulnerable to profit taking, given lofty valuations and high
expectations going into the reporting season.
In pre-market trade, Tesla shares fell more than 2%
even after the electric car maker beat Wall Street expectations
for first-quarter revenue.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both rose less
than 0.1%. Earlier the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan ended little changed.
In Europe, bank results grabbed the attention. Strong
earnings sent shares in Europe's biggest bank by assets HSBC
up 2.6%, while UBS fell after a surprise hit
linked to the collapse of hedge fund Archegos.
COPPER SHINES
Copper prices hit a 10-year high, climbing closer to their
record peak as supply worries in top producer Chile added to
hopes for an improvement in global demand amid a stable economic
recovery.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up
1.5% at $9,901 a tonne at 1110 GMT, a gain of 27% this year.
Oil rebounded as optimism ahead of a meeting of producer
group OPEC+ to discuss output policy offset concern that India's
coronavirus crisis could dent a recovery in fuel demand.
Brent crude was 0.6% up at $66.03 a barrel and U.S.
oil gained 0.7% to $62.35.
The dollar hovered near multi-week lows versus major
peers but moves were narrow as traders avoided taking out big
positions before a bond auction and the Fed meeting.
After rising as much as 0.25% it pared gains to trade flat
on the day at 90.899.
"Nobody really believes that the Fed will change its forward
guidance, but just in case, investors appear to be loading up on
U.S. dollar as a hedge," said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley.
Bond traders were closely watching an auction of $62-billion
of seven-year U.S. Treasuries later on Tuesday.
The Treasury saw very weak demand at a seven-year debt
auction in February, which sparked a brutal global selloff. The
notes also saw tepid, although improved, demand in March.
Ahead of the auction results, seven-year U.S. yields
edged up to 1.2736%, while benchmark 10-year yields
rose slightly to 1.5827%.
The yen fell 0.2% from a seven-week high against the
dollar after the Bank of Japan kept policy on hold as widely
expected and said it was ready to extend its pandemic relief
programme.
Bitcoin rose 1.3% to $54,770. The world's most
popular cryptocurrency soared nearly 10% on Monday, after five
straight days of losses, on reports that JPMorgan Chase
is planning to offer a managed Bitcoin fund.
Bitcoin had slumped almost a fifth from an all-time high hit
this month.
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni in Milan and Stanley White in
Tokyo, editing by Estelle Shirbon and John Stonestreet)
