(Updates to U.S. close of trading)
* The Dow hit all-time highs
* Bitcoin breaks above $50,000
* Government bond yields leap
* Oil prices close to 13-month highs, supported by Texas cold snap
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a record closing high, joining a global march propelling stock indexes to record highs on Tuesday, as investors bet that COVID-19 vaccinations and U.S. stimulus will deliver a durable economic recovery after a year of lockdowns.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP added to the bullish mood, briefly climbing above $50,000 for the first time, while prospects of "reflation" - a boost in inflation from extraordinary fiscal stimulus - pushed U.S. Treasury yields higher.
U.S. President Joe Biden was traveling to Wisconsin on Tuesday to press his case for a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in the political battleground state that helped secure his victory in last year's presidential election. MSCI's global stock index .MIWD00000PUS was about flat at 684.70 after hitting a record high of 687.26 earlier in the session.
On Wall Street, the Dow hit an all-time high on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq retreated slightly from record levels, as investors bet on more fiscal aid to lift the world's biggest economy from a coronavirus-driven slump.
"The reflation trade continues to push equity markets across all industries and multi-caps ... and this rally could continue in the near-term," said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank in Boston.
The Nasdaq dipped as technology stocks moved lower, while concerns over rising interest rates kept the benchmark S&P 500 little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 64.35 points, or 0.2%, to close at 31,522.75, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.24 points, or 0.06%, to finish at 3,932.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 47.98 points, or 0.34%, to end at 14,047.50.
European shares ended about flat around a one-year peak on Tuesday as a boost from major mining and bank stocks was tempered by losses in most other sectors, with investors remaining uncertain over a euro zone economic recovery. pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX finished down 0.06%.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose above 1.3% for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday and the yield curve steepened as expectations of extended fiscal and monetary stimulus alongside hopes of an economic upswing added momentum to the reflation trade. market has fully embraced the prospects of Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus, and the accelerated vaccine rollout is support of further bearish price action as well," Westpac strategists told clients.
Bond yield curves - considered a reliable barometer of growth expectations - have also steepened, with the gap between two-year and 10-year U.S. notes now around 117 bps, the widest since March 2017. US2US10=TWEB .
The U.S. dollar bounced off three-week lows as bullish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official and upbeat manufacturing data helped arouse investor risk appetite. a basket of its rivals =USD , the greenback gained 0.245% to 90.555, after earlier falling to 90.117, its lowest level since Jan. 26.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP briefly soared above $50,000 to an all-time high, adding steam to a rally fueled by signs that the world's biggest cryptocurrency is gaining acceptance among mainstream investors and companies. The cryptocurrency was last up 1.5% at $48,649.25. prices hovered near 13-month highs on Tuesday, supported by a deep freeze in the U.S. South that shut wells and oil refineries in Texas. crude futures LCOc1 settled at $63.35 a barrel, up 5 cents or 0.08%, while U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled at $60.05 a barrel, up 58 cents, or 0.98%.
U.S. natural gas futures jumped as much as 10.4% on Tuesday to an over three-month high as bone-chilling weather across the United States disrupted pipeline flows and pushed up heating demand. gold XAU= was down 1.34% at $1,794.06 an ounce. World FX rates YTD
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Global asset performance
http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn Bitcoin crosses $50K
https://tmsnrt.rs/2N3uDaA
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