GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares dip and Bitcoin hits record high

* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Ritvik Carvalho
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - World shares dipped on Friday as
investors awaited progress towards more U.S. fiscal stimulus,
while the dollar was set for a weekly loss and cryptocurrency
Bitcoin hit a record high.
Markets in China and most of Southeast Asia were closed for
the Lunar New Year. China's stock and bond markets, foreign
exchange and commodity futures markets are closed through Feb.
17 for the holiday.
Futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 declined 0.2%.
MSCI's All Country World index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
stocks across 49 countries, fell 0.15% on the day, shy of record
highs reached earlier this week.
European shares as measured by the STOXX 600 index fell at
the start of trading but bobbed higher to trade flat by midday
in London .STOXX . Germany's DAX .GDAXI was down 0.5%.
Italy's FTSEMIB index .FTSEMIB fell 0.2% on the day, with
the country's bond yields near record lows on hopes of a new
government led by former ECB President Mario Draghi. GVD/EUR
Investors weighed some tepid economic data against
increasing COVID-19 vaccinations and the prospect that more
government spending and continued cheap money from central banks
will drive higher growth and, eventually, inflation.
"We're very bullish on equities. Central banks across the
world are much more clearer of late that their policies will be
accommodative even beyond the current emergency period and this
is further supportive for risk assets," said Jeffrey Sacks, head
of EMEA investment strategy at Citi Private Bank.
Investors will have to follow a "spike train", monitoring
hospital admissions, stimulus, inflation and volatility, said
Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth
Management, in his monthly letter to clients.
"Overall, we retain a favorable view of markets over our
tactical investment horizon," he said. "While the 'spike train'
may lead to volatility, we don't think it will derail the bull
market."
Earlier, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.2%, trading just shy of a
record high reached in the previous session. Australian stocks
.AXJO lost 0.63%. Shares in Tokyo .N225 fell 0.14%, pulling
back from 30-year highs.
On Wall Street on Thursday, the Nasdaq .IXIC and S&P 500
.SPX gained 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI slipped 0.02%. Prices held near records as investors bet on more government
spending, although enthusiasm was tempered when U.S. President
Joe Biden said China was poised to "eat our lunch," raising
fears of renewed strains on Sino-U.S. ties. U.S. weekly unemployment claims fell less than expected and
core consumer prices rose at a slower pace, causing some traders
to temper their optimism about the economic outlook.
Bitcoin reached $49,000 before erasing gains.
BNY Mellon announced it would help clients hold, transfer
and issue digital assets days after Elon Musk's Tesla TSLA.O
said it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency and
would accept it as a form of payment for its cars.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.5% to $1,816.91 per ounce. U.S. gold
futures GCv1 fell 0.6% to $1,816.6. Gold prices are still on
track for their best week in three amid broad dollar selling.
GOL/
The dollar index =USD rose 0.25% on Friday but was still
on course for a 0.6% weekly decline. FRX/
Soft demand at an auction of $27 billion of new 30-year
Treasuries on Thursday rattled bond investors. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RR rose to
1.1632%. The 30-year yield US30YT=RR initially rose but then
fell back to 1.9489%.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 0.6% to $60.75 a barrel, having
dropped half a percent the previous session. U.S. oil CLc1
fell 0.76% to $57.80 a barrel, after falling 0.8% on Thursday.
OPEC cut its demand forecast and the International Energy
Agency said the market was still over-supplied, which cast a
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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
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