(Reuters) – World stocksedged up and oil advanced on Wednesday as investors tried to position themselves ahead of a Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s key speech.
The gains follows weeks of market turmoil, with disappointing U.S. economic news and escalating worries about the debt crisis in Europe hitting sentiment. Benchmark stock indexes are on track for their worst month since the fall of 2008, after the Lehman Brother fall.
World stocks as measured by MSCI .MIWD00000PUS were up 0.1 percent on the day but were on track for a 10.3 percent year-to-date loss. The U.S. benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 markets/index?symbol=us%21spx”>.SPX index was nearly flat after the opening.
European shares were also higher, though Japanese shares sold off following a Moody’s downgrade of the country’s sovereign debt.
Tokyo’s Nikkei average finance/markets/index?symbol=jp%21n225″>.N225 closed down more than 1 percent. Overseas investors in particular reacted negatively to Moody’s Investors Service’s downgrade of Japan’s sovereign debt rating.
Although U.S. stocks were near flat, they were supported by stronger-than-expected U.S. durables data. The U.S. government data showed new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in July on strong demand for aircraft and motor vehicles.
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