Stocks drift as investors turn cautious ahead of U.S. payrolls

World stocks clung close to record highs on Thursday as investors weighed inflation concerns ahead of key U.S. economic data, while oil prices rose for a third straight session.

Market sentiment was cagey as investors backed away from big bets before the release on Friday of U.S. jobs data, which should offer further clarity on whether the faster-than-expected pace of economic recovery can be sustained and what that might mean for monetary policy.

In Europe, the broad Euro STOXX index (.STOXX) was 0.2% down, drifting away from record highs scaled on Tuesday, with Britain’s FTSE 100 (.FTSE)…