* Metal prices rise, lifting mining shares, world stocks
* Oil prices gain on weaker dollar
* Euro hits 4-month low against pound
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Raw material prices advanced on Monday on strong Chinese demand hopes and on a weaker dollar, lifting commodity shares and global equities, while the euro hit a four-month low against a broadly firmer pound.
Safe-haven government bonds were steady.
European shares advanced, recovering some of the previous
session's losses after JPMorgan Chase & Co
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> fell 1.2 percent, tracking a weaker Wall Street on Friday after the JPMorgan quarterly earnings.
Among U.S. banks to report results this week are Bank of
America
"There is a good deal of anxiety over the upcoming reporting season where the fear is that the hurdle rate is set too high and that corporates won't be able to produce topline growth," said Mislav Matejka, European equity strategist at JPMorgan. "However, we think that it would be wrong to write it off."
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for a national holiday.
Metal prices firmed, with copper prices
A raft of Chinese data this week, ranging from fourth quarter GDP to December retail sales and industrial production could give clues on whether domestic consumption in China is helping to offset persistent weakness in U.S. demand.
But concerns remain that China's central bank could act again to cool inflation pressures in the economy.
Concerns over Greece's ballooning fiscal deficit weighed on the euro
"The Greek government has lost all fiscal credibility with the market," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. "We are also seeing some risk aversion on slowing growth momentum in developed economies."
STERLING PERFORMANCE
Sterling gained on firmer UK housing data [ID:nLDE60D1MQ]
and as speculative players chased it higher on reports that
French utility GDF Suez
Against the pound, the euro was down 0.4 percent at 88.09 pence, after touching 87.80 pence, its lowest since mid-September. Sterling was up 0.4 percent at $1.6326
The dollar index, a gauge of the currency's performance against six other major currencies, eased 0.3 percent.
Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries