GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks steady; yen slips from high

* MSCI world equity index steady at 287.12

* European shares slip; BNP Paribas rises

* Yen off highs after Japan's Fujii comments

By Natsuko Waki

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - World stocks steadied on Tuesday as weaker oil prices and caution following a recent rally prompted investors to lock in gains and stay on the sidelines.

The yen slipped from the previous day's 8-month high versus the dollar after Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said he would not rule out taking action if currency moves were irregular. [ID:nSP127557]

Oil fell towards $66.5 a barrel as investors anticipated a weak demand outlook from weekly inventory from the United States. This weighed on basic resource shares.

However, BNP Paribas' move to pay back state financial support and growing corporate takeover activity bolstered confidence about economic recovery provided underlying support for risky assets.

"There's a degree of profit taking with many investors quick to cash in after yesterday's gains, but the underlying market sentiment remains positive," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners.

MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> was almost unchanged on the day. The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> of leading European shares was also steady.

Shares of BNP Paribas, France's biggest bank by market capitalisation, rose 3 percent after it launched a capital increase for 4.3 billion euros as part of its move to reimburse the French state early. [nLT458563]

Its move follows similar paybacks from UBS, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> rose 0.9 percent.

U.S. stock futures were down around 0.1 percent , pointing to a slightly weaker open on Wall Street later.

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday after Xerox Corp agreed to buy Affiliated Computer Services for $5.5 billion and Abbott Laboratories said it would pay $6.6 billion for Solvay's drug unit.

The cost of financing has fallen significantly since the start of the credit crisis as central banks around the world cut interest rates to near zero, making it easier for corporates to raise funds to conduct merger and acquisition activity.

"Whilst some companies are still in the process of repairing their balance sheets from the credit binge earlier in the decade, there are also a number sitting on large amounts of cash, which sooner or later they will need to put to work," Calyon said in a note to clients.

"We feel it is too early to be calling the beginning of another M&A cycle just yet though ... However, as economic visibility improves, we believe the M&A theme could be big next year."

U.S. crude oil fell 0.3 percent to $66.61 a barrel.

The yen fell 0.2 percent to 90.23 per dollar

The September Bund future was steady. (Additional reporting by David Brett; editing by Chris Pizzey)