* Shares gain as tech shines on Microsoft-TikTok talks
* Asia ex-Japan dips, Nikkei aided by yen pullback
* Caixin China PMI beats forecasts at 52.8
* Gold reaches new peak, eyeing $2,000 level
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The dollar rallied and equity
markets rose on Monday as investors welcomed upbeat
manufacturing data from around the world and as Microsoft's
pursuit of TikTok's U.S. operations bolstered the red-hot
technology sector.
Gold prices retreated from a record high after some
profit-taking and the dollar's strengthening, though concerns
about the coronavirus' toll on the economy limited bullion's
losses.
Oil prices rose as manufacturing data from the United
States, Europe and China offset oversupply fears fueled by the
prospect of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and its allies winding back output cuts.
MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets .MIWD00000PUS
rose 0.73% to 555.9. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index
.FTEU3 added 2.18% to 1,415.15, lifted by a reading of IHS
Markit's final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for the
euro zone.
The index bounced to 51.8 in July, its first time above the
50 mark separating growth from contraction since January 2019.
Manufacturing activity in China expanded at the fastest pace
in nearly a decade as domestic demand improved, China's
Caixin/Markit PMI showed, suggesting the world's second-largest
economy would help cushion the pandemic's blow to world growth.
"There's good feelings in the stock market. You're seeing
that with earnings and you're seeing that with some of the PMI
numbers," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments
in New Vernon, New Jersey. "People were really expecting the
worse. Things are bad, but not as bad as predicted."
Wall Street's advance was driven by Microsoft MSFT.O ,
whose shares rose 4.1% after it formally declared interest in
TikTok's U.S. operations on Sunday, Meckler said.
"Investors are going with what what's worked for them and
they've decided technology has survived what they see as the
worst of the pandemic," he said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
0.93%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.76% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 1.31%.
Of the S&P's 11 major sectors, technology .SPLRCT was the
clear leader with a gain of more than 2.2%, also fueled by
Apple's AAPL.O overtaking of Saudi Aramco 2222.SE on Friday
to become the world's most valuable company.
The dollar gained against a basket of currencies as
investors unwound some recent short positions after the currency
posted its weakest monthly performance in a decade in July.
Speculators' net shorts on the U.S. dollar have soared to
their highest since August 2011 at $24.27 billion, Reuters
calculations and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data
show. IMM/FX
The dollar index =USD rose 0.324%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.29% to $1.174. The Japanese yen weakened 0.24% versus the
greenback at 106.14 per dollar.
Oil prices rose.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $0.77 to $44.29 a barrel.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 gained $0.91, to $41.18 a barrel.
Dollar bears also took some profits on crowded short
positions, but further gains were likely to be capped by the
slowing U.S. economic recovery and real rates breaking below -1%
for the first time.
The real rate hit a record low amid a marked flattening of
the yield curve as investors wager on more accommodation from
the Federal Reserve.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=TWEB rose 2.2
basis points to 0.5576% after touching the lowest level since
March last week.
German government bond yields rose slightly to -0.525%.
China's manufacturing data helped blue chips .CSI300 rally
1.6%, offsetting worries about U.S.-China relations.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 2.2%, courtesy of a pullback in
the yen.
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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
Apple beats Saudi Aramco https://tmsnrt.rs/3k6aTP6
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