World stocks gain along with oil, clock ticks down to ECB

By Dhara Ranasinghe LONDON (Reuters) - World stock markets reached their highest level in almost five months on Thursday as higher oil prices improved risk appetite and the euro steadied before a European Central Bank meeting. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares briefly reached its highest level since early January, before falling. Oil prices rose to a five-month high as the International Energy Agency said that 2016 would see the biggest drop in non-OPEC production in a genera