* S&P 500, Dow break streak of gains
* Bitcoin hits another record
* Oil prices extend recent gains
(Updates prices throughout with closing U.S. markets levels)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - MSCI's gauge of global stocks
and the Nasdaq extended their runs to fresh highs on Tuesday,
and oil prices pushed their rally into a seventh straight
session as strong earnings and economic recovery prospects
buoyed investor sentiment.
The S&P 500 and Dow ended slightly lower, however, breaking
their six-day streak of gains, as investors rotated out of
large-cap tech names into other sectors.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP climbed to another all-time peak,
extending gains in the wake of an endorsement from Tesla Inc
TSLA.O .
On Wall Street, investors awaited further news on the
proposed $1.9 trillion U.S. stimulus plan, while Donald Trump's
historic impeachment trial on a charge of inciting last month's
deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol began, making Trump the
first former U.S. president to be tried in the Senate.
Optimism over monetary and fiscal support from policymakers,
robust corporate earnings and the prospect that coronavirus
vaccines could hasten a return to normality in the United States
and other countries have bolstered risk sentiment. Investors are hard-pressed to find significant negatives,
said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at
Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
"You're not seeing money coming out of the market and going
into cash," James said. "You're seeing money coming out of one
sector and being rotated into another sector to maintain an
overall long bias."
Against this backdrop, concerns remain over the pace of
vaccination, its efficacy against new variants of the novel
coronavirus and the damage being done to economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 9.93 points, or
0.03%, to 31,375.83, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.36 points, or
0.11%, to 3,911.23 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 20.06
points, or 0.14%, to 14,007.70.
The Nasdaq hit an all-time high for the fifth consecutive
session, while the small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT also
registered a record closing high.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.09% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.17%.
Oil prices rose for their seventh straight session as
investors bet fuel demand would rise. Brent LCOc1 settled up 53 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.06 a
barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 for
March was at $58.36 a barrel, up 39 cents, or 0.7%. The session
peaks for both benchmarks were the highest since January 2020.
The dollar fell to two-week lows. The dollar index =USD
was last down 0.6%, with the euro EUR= up 0.59% to $1.2119.
Bitcoin soared to a record high, headed toward the $50,000
milestone. It has surged more than 1,000% since March 2020 and
analysts said forecasts of bitcoin hitting $100,000 this year no
longer seem far-fetched. The gains follow disclosures from Tesla on Monday that it
had invested around $1.5 billion in the virtual currency and
expects to accept it as payment for its cars in the future.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields made up earlier declines as
investors prepared for the U.S. Treasury Department to sell new
long-dated debt, but they held below 11-month highs reached on
Monday. Ten-year yields US10YT=RR were little changed on the day
at 1.164%, holding below the 1.200% level reached on Monday.
Spot gold XAU= added 0.1% to $1,838.49 an ounce.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
COVID-19 vaccinations https://tmsnrt.rs/2YVEIse
Bitcoin https://tmsnrt.rs/3juWI6a
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>