New York — World equity markets dipped on Thursday, pausing after a string of record highs, while a decline in oil prices dragged on energy shares and the US stock market. Shares on Wall Street took a breather after the best performance of the year for the Dow and benchmark S&P 500 saw the indexes close above the 26,000 mark and the 2,800 threshold, respectively, for the first time. Equities were held in check by the energy sector, which shed 0.48%, dragged lower by a 2.53% drop in Kinder Morgan in the wake of its quarterly results. Oil prices were weighed down by a reported rise in US fuel stocks although losses were pared after Energy Information Administration data showed a bigger than anticipated crude stock draw. Mixed economic reports gave investors reason for pause as weekly initial jobless claims hit a 45-year low but US home building recorded its biggest drop in just more than a year. "We are coming off such great housing reports that one is a little bit of a head scratcher...
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