CORRECTED-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian futures flat after Wall Street closes at record highs

(Corrects third paragraph to say index "rose" instead of
"fell")
By Imani Moise
Feb 4 (Reuters) - - Asian futures were little changed in
early trading after progress in vaccine distribution and a large
U.S. stimulus program sent two major Wall Street indexes to
record closing highs.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 and Hong Kong's Hang
Seng index futures HSIc1 were essentially flat while Japan's
Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 inched 0.1% higher.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.9% in early
trade.
Wall Street rallied for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday
as Democrats pushed ahead with U.S. President Joe Biden's
proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus plan without bipartisan support.
Some investors expected the Department of Labor to
release better-than-expected jobs data later on Friday.
"The U.S. is looking good on a relative basis, with rising
inflation expectations, steeper yield curves, the U.S.
vaccination rate is rising, and savings rates are declining,"
said Chris Weston, head research analyst at Pepperstone group.
Each of the major Wall Street indexes rose more than 1% on
Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC and S&P 500 .SPX
set record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 332.26 points,
or 1.08%, to 31,055.86, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 41.57 points,
or 1.09%, at 3,871.74 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
167.20 points, or 1.23%, at 13,777.74.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.01%.
Bullish sentiment around stimulus and the broader U.S.
economic recovery also pushed longer-term Treasury yields higher
and strengthened the dollar.
The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR rose about 1 basis
point to 1.1409% as investors positioned for a large pandemic
relief package. The 20-year US20YT=RR U.S. Treasury yield rose
2 basis points to 1.7396%.
The U.S. dollar index =USD rose 0.5% as the euro weakened.
Strength in the dollar limited gains in oil markets which
continued their upswing as promised supply cuts mean inventories
were likely to stay low.
U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 0.52% to $56.52 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was at $59.11, up 1.11% on the day.
Spot gold XAU= added 0.2%, at $1,795.30 an ounce, and U.S.
gold futures GCc1 % to $1,788.90 an ounce.

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Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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