* S&P 500, Nasdaq register record closing highs
* Sterling slips
* Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) higher after vaccine news
(Updates with U.S markets' closing levels)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes rose and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs on Tuesday after encouraging COVID-19 vaccine news, while Brexit deal talks weighed on sterling.
Stocks on Wall Street reversed the day's earlier declines, even as worries about further fiscal stimulus remained.
Johnson & Johnson shares JNJ.N rose after the company said it could obtain late-stage trial results of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine it is developing earlier than expected. Inc PFE (NYSE:PFE).N also gained as it cleared the next hurdle in the race to get its COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use after the U.S. health regulator released documents raising no new safety or efficacy issues.
Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey, said there is much near-term negative news because of the virus but, at the same time, a lot of positive news because of the vaccine.
COVID-19 infections nationwide in the United States were at their peak, with an average of 193,863 new cases reported each day over the past week, a Reuters tally of official data showed.
Investors are waiting to hear if more stimulus will be approved. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers should pass an aid package without either the business liability protections that Republicans want or the aid to state and local governments that is a Democratic priority.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 104.09 points, or 0.35%, to 30,173.88, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 10.29 points, or 0.28%, to 3,702.25 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 62.83 points, or 0.5%, to 12,582.77.
The S&P 500 managed to close above 3,700 for the first time.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX ended up 0.2% on the day, while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.21%.
Investors were trying to assess how widely and quickly vaccines might be available. A 90-year-old grandmother in Britain on Tuesday became the world's first person to receive a fully-tested COVID-19 shot.
The dollar edged higher in choppy trading, taking a breather from a sell-off that took it to its lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years last week, while sterling dipped as investors awaited the outcome of Brexit trade-deal talks. just three weeks left to break a deadlock in trade deal negotiations, talk of a chaotic British split from the European Union grew. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the two sides may have to accept "no deal". the foreign exchange market, sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3356, down 0.15% on the day, while the dollar index =USD was up 0.1%.
Investors are also looking ahead to a two-day EU summit that begins on Thursday, and the bloc is ready to set up its planned EU stimulus without Hungary and Poland, which are maintaining their veto of the EU budget.
Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields were lower as investors watched for news on vaccines and their distribution. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 3/32 in price to yield 0.92%, from 0.93% late on Monday. prices were little changed, with Brent crude LCOc1 futures settling at $48.84 a barrel, up 5 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 futures settled 16 cents lower at $45.60. gold prices XAU= were also nearly flat.
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