* Brent oil prices back above $40
* World stock markets edge up
* Focus shifting to Thursday's ECB meeting
(Updates with U.S. market openings, changes dateline, previous
LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices resumed their
recent climb on Wednesday, helping to lift world stock markets,
while bond prices weakened ahead of this week's European Central
bank meeting.
Brent moved back above $40 a barrel on speculation that the
world's largest exporters could agree this month to freeze
production and help erode the largest global build in crude in
years.
Brent LCOc1 was up $1.06, or 2.7 percent, at $40.71 a
barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 rose $1.24, or 3.4 percent, to
$37.74.
U.S. stocks were moderately higher in morning trading, with
gains in the S&P 500 led by a 1.9-percent jump in the S&P energy
index .SPNY .
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 70.51 points,
or 0.42 percent, to 17,034.61, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained
10.25 points, or 0.52 percent, to 1,989.51 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC had added 18.50 points, or 0.4 percent, to
4,667.33.
MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was up
0.2 percent, while in Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300
index .FTEU3 gained 0.4 percent.
Oil prices are boosting stocks, said Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
"The market is probably going to have an upward bias for
most of the session as investors await the ECB (decision)
tomorrow."
Traders expect the ECB on Thursday to cut its deposit rate
by at least 10 basis points and expand its asset-buying program.
In the bond market, prices of safe-haven government bonds in
the United States and Europe US10YT=RR DE10YT=TWEB dipped
ahead of the ECB meeting.
The benchmark 10-year note was last down 7/32 in price to
yield 1.856 percent, up from 1.834 percent late on Tuesday.
With so much priced in, however, some investors are primed
for a repeat of the sharp gains in the euro seen in December
when the ECB's measures fell short of market expectations.
The euro was flat against the dollar at $1.101 EUR= .