World stocks stall as U.S.-China tensions flare again

LONDON (Reuters) - A four-day rally that had lifted world stocks to near-record highs stalled on Thursday as a U.S. bill backing Hong Kong's protesters became law, provoking China's ire and threatening to derail an interim trade deal between Washington and Beijing.Fading hopes of a rapprochement between the world's two biggest economies before additional, potentially damaging tariff hikes kick in, also helped safe-haven assets such as U.S. and German bonds and lifted the yen from six-month..