* U.S. stocks lower in afternoon trading
* MSCI global equity index near flat
(Updates throughout, adds US oil settlement)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK Feb 11 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes were
mostly lower on Thursday, reversing earlier gains, with the S&P
500 dragged down by losses in Apple AAPL.O and Amazon.com
AMZN.O , while a drop in oil prices weighed on energy shares.
Oil prices fell following a streak of strong gains after
both OPEC and the International Energy Agency said renewed
lockdowns and the emergence of new coronavirus variants reduced
the prospect of a swift demand recovery. U.S. crude
CLc1 slid 44 cents to settle at $58.24 a barrel.
The S&P 500 energy sector .SPNY was down more than 2%,
adding to the day's weakness.
U.S.-listed shares of cannabis companies reversed premarket
gains to drop sharply after the sector caught the attention of
Reddit-inspired retail investors this week. Tilray TLRY.O was
last down more than 45%.
Investors continued to digest a dovish Federal Reserve
outlook. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reassured investors on
Wednesday that interest rates will remain low for some time to
spur the economy and jobs growth, but provided no new insights
on monetary policy. "As long as the economic news is difficult the Fed is going
to continue to act, which will prop up the stock market," said
Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 115.2 points,
or 0.37%, to 31,322.6, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 9.34 points, or
0.24%, to 3,900.54 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
12.75 points, or 0.09%, to 13,959.78.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.46% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.01%.
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin hit another record of
$48,481.45 BTC=BTSP , as it continues its march toward the
$50,000 mark. It was last up 6.3% at $47,685.
The dollar slipped in quiet trading, weighed down by
slightly weaker-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data that
followed tepid inflation numbers and the dovish message from the
Fed the previous session. The dollar index =USD fell 0.003%, with the euro EUR= up
0.09% to $1.2127.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields held below recent highs.
Investors continued to absorb disappointing inflation data from
the previous day.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 2/32 in price
to yield 1.1582%, from 1.152% late on Wednesday.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 1.1% to $1,821.81 an ounce.
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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
MSCI world stock index cruising at record highs https://tmsnrt.rs/3qaUqvu
World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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