GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks stay high, Russia's rouble buckles under sanctions stress

(Recasts lead, adds Europe, U.S. stock futures, updates levels throughout)

* World stocks look to extend record run

* Russia's rouble falls as much as 2%

* MSCI ex-Japan eases after two days of gains

* NZ, Chinese, HK shares in the red

* Oil steadies after 5% surge, commod currencies benefit

* Dollar languishes near one-month lows

* Oil holds near 1-mth top, gold slightly higher

By Marc Jones

LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - World stocks were on course to extend a five-day run of record highs on Thursday, while bitcoin took a breather after its latest surge and Russia’s markets tumbled at the prospect of the harshest U.S. sanctions in years.

For traders, it was hard keeping up. Europe's STOXX 600 set a new all-time high as rising commodity stocks and some upbeat earnings offset the region's COVID third wave and vaccination rollout worries.

The U.S. dollar was trying to get off a four-week low and Wall Street futures were lifted by a surge in retail sales . Investors are increasingly convinced that U.S. interest rates will stay low, whereas in Europe a deluge of debt issuance lifted German bond yields to four-week highs.

For those following markets elsewhere it was even more hectic. Turkey's lira wobbled as the country's central bank hinted that it will look to cut interest rates under a new governor after the last one was sacked after hiking rates last month.

The Russian rouble had already dropped as much as 2% and its bond markets took a clattering on reports the United States would announce sanctions later for alleged interference in U.S. elections and malicious cyber activity.

They were set to target both individuals and entities and also include aggressive new measures targeting the country's sovereign debt, according to U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters.

"There has been a bit of whiplash for the rouble." Saxo Bank's head of FX strategy, John Hardy, said. "Earlier in the week it looked like the U.S. was making overtures about a (Biden-Putin) summit and now it looks like they are going to slap on sanctions."

BANK TO THE FUTURE

Wall Street futures were pointing higher after a mixed finish on Wednesday despite gains for bulge-bracket banks like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo as they got U.S. earnings season off to a good start.

Fresh results ahead of the opening bell from Bank of America and BlackRock further bolstered hopes. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, reported a 16% jump in first-quarter profit and Bank of America rose 1.3% in premarket trading after its profits breezed past estimates.

The mood had been subdued in comparison in Asia overnight where the Nikkei ended little changed and Hong Kong and China's main bourses finished 0.5%-0.6% in the red.

JPMorgan Asset Management said in a note it was trimming its overall emerging markets exposure once again, "mostly driven by a less sanguine outlook on EM Asia".

"China has now recovered enough that policymakers can afford to be more conservative and worry more about containing debt and property market risks," its global multi-asset strategist, Patrik Schowitz, wrote in a note.

The bank had already recommended selling EM currencies earlier in the week.

There were no such worries for the cryptocurrencies. Despite a bumpy IPO for crypto firm Coinbase, the world's biggest and best-known bitcoin was just shy of its record high at $62,614, having now doubled in value this year.

Back in the bond markets, 10-year U.S. bond yields eased to 1.6165% in European trade, down from a 14-month peak of 1.776% reached in late March, reducing the dollar's yield attraction.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank would reduce its monthly bond purchases "well before" it raised interest rates.

"Risk sentiment is improving," dragging on bond yields and the dollar, said Osamu Takashima, chief currency strategist at Citigroup Global Markets Japan.

Against the yen, the dollar slipped for a fourth day to 108.90. The euro was flat at $1.1977 as was sterling at $1.3776.

The Australian dollar hovered near three-week highs at $0.7716 after posting its biggest one-day percentage gain since Feb. 19 on Wednesday. Its New Zealand peer was upbeat at $0.7147, a level not seen since March 23.

In commodities, oil held near one-month highs after climbing nearly 5% on Wednesday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said there were signs the massive overhang in global oil inventories was now being "worked off".

Brent crude was up 2 cents at $66.60 a barrel. U.S. crude slipped 5 cents to $63.1. Gold was 0.4% higher at $1,741.8 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Swati Pandey in Sydney; Editing by Kim Coghill and Nick Macfie)