London — Global stocks paused near record highs as worries over China’s banking system provided an excuse for investors to lock in some profits. The dollar was set for its best week of the year on bets the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates in June. A dip on Wall Street overnight, on signs of weak consumer spending and waning enthusiasm over the recovery in European corporate earnings, has put MSCI’s gauge of world stock markets on track for its first weekly loss in four. "We’ve had a nervous twitch about China, over this week," said Sean Darby, chief global equity strategist at Jefferies. "We’ve had a bit more of a regulatory overhang coming through in the financial system." This week, China’s banking regulator launched emergency risk assessments of lenders’ new business practices, sources told Reuters, as Beijing extends its crackdown on shadow banking. With corporate earnings seasons in the US and Europe drawing to a close investors’ focus is likely to shift back to cen...
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