* UK "Super Thursday" eases rate-hike worries
* U.S. still in spotlight over Fed's own rate policy
* Emerging stocks hit two year low as Asia stocks slip
* Dollar index eases after touching 3 1/2 month high
(Updates with Bank of England data)
By Marc Jones
LONDON Aug 6 (Reuters) - Relief rippled through UK markets
on Thursday after the Bank of England indicated it was in no
hurry to raise interest rates while fears that U.S. rates are
set to rise from crisis-era lows continued to hurt emerging
markets.
Many investors were keeping moves small ahead of U.S. jobs
data on Friday that could give a strong pointer to when the
Federal Reserve will raise rates for the first time in nearly a
decade. U.S. equity futures SPc1 were up 0.2 percent.
Sterling fell sharply, gilt futures rose and UK stocks got a
boost after the British central bank said just one official had
voted to raise interest rates at its August meeting. That
confounded expectations that at least two members and possibly
three of the bank's monetary policy committee would vote for a
hike for the first time this year.
Traders said expectations of a rate hike were being pushed
back to mid-2016, having earlier this week moved closer to the
start of next year.
"The single vote for a rate rise from the monetary policy
committee ... offers a small signal that a rate rise is inching
closer," said Andrew Wilson, EMEA chief of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Asset
Management. "We think this is likely to be a H1 2016 event
rather than a 2015 event."
Sterling fell 0.6 percent against the dollar to $1.5509
GBP=D4 , having traded at $1.5600 before the BoE's bumper
release of data including its interest rate decision, meeting
minutes, and new economic forecasts. The euro jumped 0.7 percent
to 70.38 pence, having traded at 69.83 pence beforehand.
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE equity index turned positive, up
0.1 percent at 1147 GMT and strongly outperforming a 0.4 percent
drop for the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 .
Emerging market stocks meanwhile slipped to their lowest in
over two years on nervousness about the timing and scope of a
U.S. interest rate hike and continued weakness in commodity
markets.
MSCI's benchmark emerging markets index .MSCIEF hit its
lowest level since mid-2013 as fresh losses in China, large
parts of Asia and Russia once again weighed. EMRG/FRX
The pressure continued to crank up on Malaysia. The ringgit
hit a fresh 17-year low and some local bond prices fell, in a
sign of declining confidence among foreign investors in the face
of political uncertainty and low commodity prices.
"If weakening pressure on MYR persists, we can definitely
not exclude the possibility of FX outflow restriction," said Amy
Yuan Zhuang, a senior analyst at Nordea in Singapore.
Elsewhere, the Swiss franc fell to its lowest in five months
against the euro, as investors sensed that its central bank may
have to ease policy while oil prices hovered near multi-month
lows after a surge in gasoline stores in the United States.
Brent futures LCOc1 , the global oil benchmark, hit $49.02
per barrel, its lowest since late January.
London copper CMCU3 rose 0.5 percent as better Chinese
data on Wednesday had underpinned industrial metals, although
gains were capped by a stronger dollar. Gold XAU= struggled to
pull away from a 5-1/2-year low as it hovered at $1,086.20 an
ounce.