GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks stabilise; oil resumes ascent

* MSCI world equity index unchanged at 345.27

* ECB and BoE leaves interest rates steady; eyes on Trichet

* Dollar slips from seven-week high as oil rises

By Natsuko Waki

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - World stocks steadied on Thursday after central banks from the euro zone and Britain met expectations to leave interest rates on hold while the dollar slipped from a seven-week high as oil resumed its ascent.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England left interest rates on hold at 4 percent and 5 percent respectively.

Investors focused on the news conference from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet later to seek his views on how the central bank could balance the effect from slowing growth and rising price pressures.

Slowing growth could ease inflationary pressures, which would create some room for central banks to fight the credit crisis with lower interest rates -- which would support risky assets like stocks.

"The threat of inflation can diminish, enabling central banks to resume their activity of cutting interest rates," said Edward Menashy, chief economist of Charles Stanley.

Riccardo Barbieri, head of rate strategy at Bank of America, said: "ECB President Trichet will express concerns about wage growth and the risk of second-round effects."

"However, we believe Mr Trichet will also say or hint that the ECB has no bias at this stage and acknowledge the worsening in several euro zone economic indicators."

The FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was unchanged on the day while the MSCI main world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was also steady. Earnings results from the financial sector were mixed. Barclays (BARC.L) and AXA (AXAF.PA) gave better-than-expected results, while American International Group (AIG.N) posted its third consecutive quarterly net loss of more than $5 billion on Wednesday.

U.S. stock futures SPc1 fell 0.4 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street later.

The dollar was down 0.3 percent against a basket of major currencies .DXY, after hitting a seven-week high on Wednesday. Inflation-sensitive currencies, such as the euro and sterling, rose versus the greenback as oil rose.

The September Bund future FGBLU8 was up 7 ticks on the day.

EMERGING REVERSAL?

Emerging sovereign spreads 11EMJ was unchanged while emerging stocks .MSCIEF outperformed their developing counterparts, rising 0.2 percent on the day.

U.S. light crude CLc1 rose 1.7 percent to $120.56 a barrel, having tumbled from record highs above $147 hit in July. Gold XAU= also edged higher to $884.10 an ounce.

Oil and commodity prices stabilised after staging their biggest monthly fall in at least 10 years in July, based on Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .CRB.

"If commodity prices continue to move lower -- and inflation risks recede -- the next stage may be a broader decline in rates paths in the emerging market universe, where tightening has been ongoing," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.

"Trades that focus explicitly on non-U.S. OECD weakness may provide a better risk-reward. If oil and inflation relaxation extend, active investors may continue to find themselves mis-positioned at the sector level." (Additional reporting by Kirsten Donovan; Editing by Ron Askew)