* Abe victory boosts U.S. stocks, dollar
* Sentiment helped by optimism about U.S. tax cuts
* U.S. Treasury yields lower on the day (Updates with close of European markets, adds commentary)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks on Monday pared gains in late-afternoon trading after losses in General Electric (NYSE:GE) weighed on Wall Street indexes, while U.S. Treasury prices rose in light volume.
General Electric GE.N was on track to post its worst single-day loss in more than six years, after a bunch of brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, citing higher chances of a dividend cut at the industrial conglomerate. The company tumbled 6.4 percent. Treasury prices rose in thin volume, tracking gains in the European bond market, as investors added to positions after a selloff the last few days and ahead of this week's debt auctions and a European Central Bank monetary policy meeting. that wanted to sell on the idea that U.S. tax reform was on its way was able to do that last week and get reasonable prices to readjust their positions," said Jim Vogel, interest rates strategist, at FTN Financial in Memphis, Tennessee.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.3791 percent, from 2.381 percent late on Friday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.8929 percent, from 2.894 percent late on Friday.
Wall Street had opened at record highs following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's emphatic win in weekend polls. The victory also sent the dollar to a three-month high against the yen, as investors bet the win would mean a continuation of "Abenomics," the ultra-loose policies that have kept downward pressure on the yen. Japanese yen weakened 0.21 percent versus the greenback at 113.77 per dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 2.66 points, or 0.01 percent, to 23,325.97, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.86 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,571.35 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 16.80 points, or 0.25 percent, to 6,612.25.
Corporate earnings have gotten off to a strong start, with 73.2 percent of the 97 S&P companies beating profit expectations versus a 72-percent beat rate over the past four quarters. STOXX 600 shares .STOXX rose 0.16 percent, although Madrid's bourse IBEX .IBEX lagged its peers, shedding 0.6 percent, as Spain's crisis entered another week. took the unprecedented step of firing the government of Catalonia on Saturday in a last resort to thwart its push for independence. Catalan leaders called for civil disobedience in response. pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.11 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.16 percent.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.11 percent. market stocks lost 0.29 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.21 percent lower.
Argentina's stocks jumped as investors bet a strong electoral performance from President Mauricio Macri's coalition could boost his reform agenda. benchmark Merval index .MERV rose2.3 percent.
Gold XAU= hit a more than two-week low. Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.1 percent to $1,279.38 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.02 percent to $1,280.70 an ounce.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Global assets in 2017
http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC Global currencies vs. dollar
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Global bonds dashboard
http://tmsnrt.rs/2fPTds0 Emerging markets in 2017
http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru, Richard Leong in New York, Jan Harvey and Georgina Prodhan in London, and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski)