GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks climb after Monday's drop; oil gains 5%

* U.S. stocks higher in afternoon New York trading
* Georgia Senate runoff results closely watched
* Oil prices climb 5%

(Updates with European stocks close, oil price settlements)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes were
mostly higher on Tuesday, with Wall Street rebounding from a
weak start to the year, and oil prices settled up 5% after news
that Saudi Arabia will make voluntary cuts to its oil output in
February.
Investors anxiously awaited the results of two Senate runoff
races in the state of Georgia on Tuesday that are expected to
determine the balance of power in
Washington.
A Democratic victory in both contests could tip control of
the U.S. Senate away from Republicans, potentially boosting the
agenda of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
"Investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude...There's a
lot to be concerned about - not only in the U.S. with the
elections but also because of the different strains of the virus
that are now being reported around the globe," CFRA chief
investment strategist Sam Stovall said.
Georgia results are expected to be known by Wednesday
morning, according to state officials. No Democrat has won a
Senate race in Georgia in two decades, but opinion surveys show
both races as exceedingly close.
Equity markets were boosted recently by the start of vaccine
rollouts, and U.S. stocks ended 2020 at record highs.
The discovery of a more contagious strain of the coronavirus
and the latest virus-related restrictions have offset some of
that optimism. Britain has begun its third national lockdown,
and New York on Monday reported its first case of the highly
contagious variant of the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 242.21 points,
or 0.8%, to 30,466.1, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 32.65 points, or
0.88%, to 3,733.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 123.76
points, or 0.97%, to 12,822.20.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.19% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.77%.
In the currency markets, the dollar fell against a basket of
major currencies after China lifted its official yuan exchange
rate by its highest margin since it abandoned a dollar peg in
2005. The Chinese move helped support demand for other currencies
and kept MSCI's emerging-market currency index near the record
high it had hit on Monday.
In the offshore market, the yuan strengthened as far as
6.4419 CNH=EBS for the first time since June 2018. It started
the week at 6.4944. The British pound GBP= recovered from a tumble on Monday,
when a surge in COVID cases in the United Kingdom forced the
nationwide lockdown until mid-February. The dollar index =USD fell 0.485%, with the euro EUR= up
0.42% to $1.23. Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.363, up
0.45% on the day.
Bitcoin traded at $32,045.29 BTC=BTSP following a
roller-coaster ride that took it to a record high of $34,800 on
Sunday, followed by a tumble to as low as $27,734 the following
session.
Earlier, in Hong Kong, China Mobile 0941.HK , China Unicom
0762.HK , and China Telecom 0728.HK rallied after the New
York Stock Exchange suddenly scrapped plans to de-list the
companies' shares following a U.S. executive order. U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 4.9% to settle at $49.93 a
barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 also jumped 4.9%, settling
at $53.60. Spot gold XAU= added 0.5% to $1,951.52 an ounce.
In the bond market, benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR
last fell 14/32 in price to yield 0.9632%, from 0.917% late on
Monday.

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World FX rates in 2021 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
China's yuan is on the charge https://tmsnrt.rs/3oiuJrZ
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