(Adds U.S. market open, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
* European, U.S. shares rise
* MSCI ex-Japan index hits highest since early 2018
* Split Congress seen lessening risk of regulation, tax
increases
* BOE injects another 150 billion pounds into bond buying
* Pressure back on for Fed-led monetary stimulus
* Emerging market FX sees strong gains, yuan at 28-month
high
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped and tech
stocks rallied further on Thursday as Democrat Joe Biden drew
closer to winning the U.S. presidency while the Bank of England
became the latest central bank to say it will increase stimulus.
Biden appeared set to defeat Donald Trump as counting
continued from Tuesday's election. The president's campaign said
it expected to launch more legal action and would emerge
victorious. Investors leapt on the prospect of gridlock in Congress and
the notion Silicon Valley will be spared greater oversight as
the Democrats are unlikely to win control of the Senate.
Tech shares in Europe jumped almost 3% .SX8P .EU ,
extending a rally of more than 8% this week, while the
tech-heavy Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow industrials rose 1% or more.
European stocks hit two-week highs on strong earnings
reports and after the Bank of England increased its already huge
bond-buying stimulus by 150 billion pounds ($195 billion), or
about 50 billion pounds more than expected. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its latest
policy statement at 2 p.m. and is expected to repeat its pledge
to do whatever it can to help the U.S. economy recover from the
COVID-19 recession.
"The big bad wolf of regulation and taxes is further away
from the door and many who have de-risked into the event will be
forced to re-risk," said Michele Pedroni, a fund manager at
Decalia Asset Management in Geneva.
(For the latest election results and more coverage, click:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-election2020)
MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets .MIWD00000PUS
rose 1.83% to 589.5, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index
.FTEU3 added 0.94% to 1,419.84.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
1.47%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.61% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 1.93%.
Overnight in Asia, stocks .MIAPJ0000PUS rallied 2% to
reach their highest since February 2018. Japan's Nikkei .N225
rose 1.7% to a more than nine-month top, South Korea .KS11
gained 2.4% and Chinese blue chips .CSI300 added 1.3% on hopes
a Biden White House would ease up on tariffs.
The U.S. dollar fell to two-week lows against a basket of
currencies and a seven-month low against the Japanese yen as the
likelihood of a Democratic blue wave in the White House and
Congress slowly vanished, snuffing any large U.S. stimulus
package.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.6%, while MSCI's benchmark
for global equity markets .MIWD00000PUS rose 1.83% to 589.5.
"The market's assuming that Biden wins the White House but
that the Senate is not going to be in the Democrats' hands, so
you don't have as big of a stimulus," said Marc Chandler, chief
market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.
U.S. Treasury yields edged higher after earlier dropping
from four-month highs as a large jump in near-term supply to
fund stimulus became less likely, reducing the appeal of the
debt and weighing on the dollar.
Weak economic growth is putting a damper on the ability to
offer higher interest rates for government debt, which is
weighing on the dollar, Chandler said.
The euro EUR= was up 0.63% toup 0.67% to $1.1796 and the
yen JPY= strengthened 0.74% versus the greenback at 103.73 per
dollar.
The yuan CNH= gained to a more than two-year high of
6.5994. The Chinese currency had been slammed by Sino-U.S.
disputes since the outbreak of the bilateral trade war in 2018.
Gold surged as the dollar slipped, with spot prices XAU=
rising 2.21% to $1,945.26 an ounce.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury US10YT=RR note rose 1.7 basis
points to 0.7847%.
Italy's five-year bond yields fell below zero for the first
time. EUR/GVD
EMERGING WINNERS
Oil prices dropped on Thursday as concerns grew about
economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $0.57 to $40.66 a barrel.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 slid $0.65 to $38.5 a barrel.
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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
World stocks market cap rise over last four years https://tmsnrt.rs/2TL19hh
Emerging winners https://tmsnrt.rs/3eFqmU9
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