* Oil prices retreat, helping support stocks

* IEA to release 400 million barrels

* Dollar remains top safe haven, outperforms gold, Swiss

franc

* Concerns bubble over private credit quality

(Updates with IEA recommendation to release oil stocks;

refreshes prices)

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Global shares steadied on

Wednesday as oil prices retreated, while mixed signals about the

U.S.-Israeli stance on Iran kept investors anxious over

inflationary pressures and risks to economic growth.

Investors were also reminded of vulnerabilities within

private credit after the Financial Times, citing sources,

reported JPMorgan Chase JPM.N had marked down the value of some

loans held by private-credit groups and was tightening lending

to the sector.

Oil had another volatile day, although price movement was

muted compared to the record price swings of Monday's session.

The International Energy Agency will recommend the release

of 400 million barrels of oil, the largest amount in IEA

history, three sources said on Wednesday, to rein in soaring

prices. Japan and Germany said they would start releasing some

reserves.

BRENT'S RISE MODERATES TO 2%

Brent crude futures were last up around 2% at $90 a

barrel, having risen earlier by as much as 6% to almost $93.

The MSCI All-World index steadied, while

European shares recovered some earlier losses, leaving the STOXX

600 down 0.4%, after a loss of over 1% earlier on.

U.S. stock futures edged up 0.2% .

"Markets continue to be driven by volatile news flow around

Iran and the outlook for oil flows. Overall, the narrative has

shifted towards a cautiously more optimistic tone, even as

there's little sign of an imminent end to the conflict,"

Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said.

Investors remain on edge as the Middle East conflict

threatens to freeze global energy trade and ignite a price shock

- a risk that world leaders are scrambling to address.

The immediate concern is when the Strait of Hormuz, a

critical artery for 20% of global fuel supply, will again be

safe for traffic as Iranian threats to vessels have deterred

ships from entering it since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel

war.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on

Tuesday the ECB would do everything to keep inflation under

control to avoid a repeat of the 2022 energy price shock.

Several ECB officials favour a wait-and-see approach before

taking action.

SAFE-HAVEN DOLLAR

The dollar is still the safe haven of choice for investors,

gaining well over 1% against a basket of other major currencies

since the start of the war in the Middle East, compared with a

1% drop in the Swiss franc and a 1.5% loss in gold

, two classic safe-haven assets.

"You have only one safe asset, which has been the U.S.

dollar," said Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy and

multi-asset strategist at Societe Generale.

"Even gold or Treasuries did not play this huge safe-haven

role. In the case of Treasuries, because of the inflation

concerns, and in the case of gold, because we could see some

investors selling their gains in gold to offset some losses in

the equity market."

The euro and the pound struggled to make

headway, and were little changed at $1.1606 and $1.345,

respectively. The yen weakened, leaving the dollar up

0.15% at 158.3.

BOND YIELD SURGE ADDS TO OVERHEATING CONCERNS

The surge in bond yields early in the week, due to fears of

sustained energy-price pressures, has added to concerns over

other market segments being at risk of overheating, such as

private credit and the vast investments in AI projects.

Concerns about deteriorating credit quality, especially

regarding an AI-led disruption in the software sector, have

triggered investor withdrawals from private credit vehicles,

including BlackRock's $26 billion HPS Corporate Lending Fund.

JPMorgan is focusing on loans to software companies it

considers most susceptible to disruption, the FT reported on

Wednesday.

U.S. Treasuries fell again on Wednesday, pushing the yield

on the benchmark 10-year note up 3 basis points to

4.165%, ahead of the February inflation report later on

Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Pooja

Desai and Bernadette Baum)