European stocks inched up and gold held near $1,000 an ounce on Wednesday, while the benchmark world equity index, oil and U.S. stock futures fell, reflecting investor reluctance to further pile on risky assets.
The low-yielding dollar stayed near its 2009 low against the euro while U.S. Treasury prices steadied ahead of an auction of 10-year notes later in the day.
World stocks have recouped more than half of losses by rising 22 percent since January, fuelled by evidence of a recovering global economy and a weekend Group of 20 pledge to keep emergency support for their economies in place.
Investors are awaiting the release due later of the Federal Reserve Beige Book, a summary of U.S. economic conditions in the 12 Fed districts, and a weekly U.S. mortgage market report for more evidence for a U.S. economic recovery.
"There's no harm in taking some money off the table. We're seeing a little bit of short-term profit-taking before going higher again," said Stephen Pope, chief global strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
"I just do not see that this market wants to go down. The downside risk is very limited at the moment." MSCI world equity index was down 0.2 percent, having hit an 11-month high on Tuesday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.2 percent, erasing early losses as auto, real estate, oil and gas shares rose.
U.S. stock futures were down 0.1 percent, pointing to a weaker open on Wall Street.
Emerging stocks dropped 0.5 percent after hitting a fresh one-year high, levels last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
"I suspect the incentives of portfolio managers to bet on a global recovery should overwhelm those betting on a relapse in growth," said Stephen Jen, managing director of macroeconomics and currencies at London-based hedge fund BlueGold Capital Management, in a note to clients.
U.S. crude oil fell 0.3 percent to $70.87 a barrel ahead of the OPEC meeting, which is widely expected to keep output targets unchanged.
Gold stood at $994.40 an ounce, having risen above $1,000 on Tuesday. Traders say the latest surge in the yellow metal stemmed from inflows from investors selling dollars to buy risky commodities.
The dollar was steady against a basket of major currencies after hitting its lowest level since early October on Tuesday. It rose 0.1 percent to 92.52 yen.
The September Bund future fell 11 ticks while the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at 3.4693 percent.
