London — World shares pulled back from record highs on Wednesday, set for only their second day of losses in the new year as lower commodity prices and a string of downbeat updates from companies dampened the mood in global markets. European bourses opened lower, mirroring moves in Asia and Wall Street overnight, as earnings updates from companies weighed. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.2%, but still close to a two-and-a-half-year high hit earlier this month. Asian equities stepped back from a record high as the region’s resource shares were knocked by falling oil and commodity prices. Oil prices have retreated from the $70 a barrel mark hit last week, while metals, such as aluminium and copper and nickel, all fell on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4% from its 26-year peak reached the previous day. The losses across regions weighed on the MSCI world equity index, pulling it lower 0.1% and setting it up for only its second decline from the start of the year. World shar...
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