* Nasdaq and S&P 500 also hit new highs
* Salesforce.com drives tech stocks higher
* Fed chair due to speak at Jackson Hole on Thursday
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Katanga Johnson
WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks will likely climb on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied to fresh records on upbeat corporate results, while the dollar eased a day before the U.S. Federal Reserve possibly sets a new course on inflation.
A gauge of global equity markets, MSCI's all-country world index surged past the pre-COVID high reached in February as technology stocks jumped after Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) CRM.N raised its annual revenue forecast on surging demand for the company's online business software. S&P/ASX 200 futures YAPcm1 rose 0.25% in early trading.
Japan's Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 fell 0.04%, while the Nikkei 225 index .N225 closed the overnight session down 0.03% at 23,290.86.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI .HSIc1 were up 0.12%.
Shares of big companies like Apple Inc AAPL.O , Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , which influence the broader market because of their sheer size, were all higher.
"Your three highest sectors are all the mega-cap tech and tech-related stocks," said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. "So that notion of large-cap tech leading the market is in play today."
"There's this confidence that regardless of what happens with COVID, these companies have proven that they're open for business," he said.
Adding to the upbeat mood was an analysis of early-stage data from Moderna Inc's MRNA.O experimental COVID-19 vaccine that showed the vaccine induced immune responses in older adults similar to those for younger participants. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 83.48 points, or 0.3%, to 28,331.92, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 35.11 points, or 1.02%, at 3,478.73.
The Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC added 198.59 points, or 1.73%, at 11,665.06.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.91% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.89%.
Better-than-expected economic data in Europe has lifted analysts' earnings expectations, driving regional bourses higher. Benchmark indexes in Frankfurt .GDAXI , Paris .FCHI and London .FTSE closed up 0.98%, 0.80% and 0.14%, respectively. market stocks rose 0.41%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.38% higher.
Oil prices traded little changed, pressured by worries about the demand outlook during the coronavirus pandemic but buoyed as U.S. producers shut output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Laura.
Producers evacuated 310 offshore facilities and shut 1.56 million barrels per day of crude output, 84% of Gulf of Mexico's offshore production - near the 90% outage that Hurricane Katrina brought 15 years ago.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.175%, with the euro EUR= up 0.07% at $1.1837.
On Wednesday, the index hit a session high of 93.37 after data showed U.S. durable goods orders had increased more than expected in July. Global assets
http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl Global currencies vs. dollar
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Emerging markets
http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap
http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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