GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares staunch bleed after worst selloff since January

* European shares bounce 1%, U.S. futures up after rout

* Dollar at 2021 high in FX markets

* Nikkei loses 2.1% as Japan’s ruling party picks new leader

* U.S. yields edge lower, but only just off recent highs

* Oil drops, gold gains

* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn

* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Marc Jones

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Investors sought to staunch the bleed on Wednesday after world stocks suffered their worst rout since January and U.S. and European borrowing costs raced to their highest in months.

Asia managed to slow the falls and the pan-European STOXX 600 index bounced 1% in early trading after shedding 2.2% on Tuesday and after a heavy selloff in U.S. tech stocks consigned Wall Street to its steepest drop since mid-July.

The global benchmarks for borrowing costs – the yields on U.S. and German government bonds – also edged lower after their spikes had helped fuel the volatility. Traders were also waiting to hear from the heads of the European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England who speak together at an ECB event later https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/conferences/html/20210928_ecb_forum_on_central_banking.en.html.

“The question that will come in the next 10 days is will the U.S. Treasury yield keep pushing above 1.5%,” said Societe Generale strategist Kenneth Broux. “That was a sort of breaking point for broader risk assets when stops went off and the selloff started accelerating.”

Those Treasury yields have jumped roughly 20 basis points over the last week and are set for their biggest monthly jump since March. German and British 10-year bond yields are set for the biggest month rise since February — gilt yields have soared almost 40 bps this month to 1% .

Broux said the question for October and the rest of the year would be whether the inflation pressures that central banks train their focus on start to abate. “The 1.5% level (on U.S. Treasuries) is really pivotal,” he said.

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In the currency markets, the run up in yields, prompted by the signs that some Fed members want to start moving interest rates up next year, saw the dollar touch an 18-month high against the yen and set its highest level of the year versus other major peers.

It is also on course for its best year since 2015 just as doubts re-emerge about the global recovery from the COVID pandemic, Washington is bogged down in debt ceiling talks that could lead to a government shutdown. China is also grappling with a power crunch and property sector worries that have hit its economy.

QUARTER OF STRAIN

U.S. Futures suggested a risk-friendlier mood could return on Wall Street later too. S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.6% and those for the Nasdaq were up 0.8% after that index was pounded 3.6% on Tuesday by heavy selling of super-sized tech firms such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Overnight Asia-Pacific shares had managed to restrict falls to 1.2%. Not including Japan, the region was heading…