GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rebound after Monday's drop; U.S. dollar slips

* U.S. stocks higher in early New York trading
* Georgia Senate runoff seen as political risk
* Oil prices up sharply

(Updates with early U.S. markets activity, changes dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes were
mostly higher on Tuesday after Wall Street started the year with
losses on Monday, while the U.S. dollar weakened.
Investors anxiously awaited, however, Tuesday's dual Senate
run-off races in the state of Georgia 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.
Both Georgia senatorial elections are tight and the results
may not be immediately known, which could lead to a repeat of
the fraught vote re-counts that followed the U.S. presidential
election in November.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 5.88 points, or
0.02%, to 30,229.77, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 7.26 points, or
0.20%, to 3,707.91 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 67.70
points, or 0.53%, to 12,766.15.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.30% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.24%.
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
after a surge in COVID cases in the United Kingdom forced
another nationwide lockdown until mid-February. The dollar index =USD fell 0.198%, with the euro EUR= up
0.18% to $1.227. Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3587, up
0.13% on the day.
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. Both Brent and U.S. crude futures LCOc1 CLc1 were up
sharply, and spot gold XAU= added 0.2% to $1,946.57 an ounce.
In the bond market, benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR
last fell 7/32 in price to yield 0.9399%, from 0.917% late on
Monday.

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