GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks edge higher, dollar off lows on fresh Pfizer vaccine boost

* MSCI World index up 0.1%, just off record high
* U.S. stock futures up 0.3%
* Dollar dips to Nov. 9 lows against basket of currencies

By Simon Jessop
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Global shares edged higher and
the dollar perked up on Wednesday as further positive COVID-19
vaccine news more than offset concerns around the stubbornly
high global infection rate.
The MSCI World index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.1% at 1206
GMT, just shy of the previous session's record high. U.S. stock
futures, meanwhile, pointed to a higher open on Wall Street,
with the front-month S&P 500 contract ESc1 up 0.3%.
After opening lower, European shares crawled back into the
black, with the STOXX 600 index .STOXX up 0.3%, tracking
overnight gains in Asia, where China stimulus hopes helped
MSCI's broadest regional gauge .MIAPJ0000PUS rise
0.7%. News before the bell from pharmaceutical company Pfizer
PFE.N that its COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective and the
company would apply for emergency U.S. authorisation within days
helped bolster its stock 3% and give a broader lift to markets.
That helped futures reverse most of the previous day's fall,
when soft retail sales and a rising U.S. infection rate,
combined with uncertainty over fresh government stimulus, had
weighed on sentiment. While the Pfizer news helped the dollar pull off its lows -
it had earlier slid against a basket of currencies =USD to its
lowest since Nov. 9 - the news was not enough to drag it into
positive territory.
While the release of two successful coronavirus vaccine
trial data over the last week had buoyed markets, the still-high
infection rate globally would likely cap gains, said Jane
Shoemake, London-based fund manager at Janus Henderson.
"People can see light at the end of the tunnel now and the
markets clearly responded to that, but it's not going to go up
in a straight line because we've still got to get through the
winter... (and) that is going to continue to temper some of the
exuberance people feel."
That said, strong corporate earnings in the third quarter
also continued to underpin the positive stock market sentiment,
said analysts at Barclays, with firms "confident on the outlook
and in control of costs", they said in a note to clients.
"This reinforces the case for a strong earnings rebound and
pick-up in corporate activity in 2021, as the cyclical recovery
unfolds."
Cormac Weldon, Head of U.S. Equities at UK asset manager
Artemis, said while the overall picture for investors was
brighter, the recovery was likely to be uneven.
"Low inventories and the need to manufacture and distribute
goods are likely to be the first drivers of the recovery, with
the re-emergence of consumer demand adding a powerful second
phase."
With stocks still well supported, other risk markets also
took heart, with U.S. crude futures CLc1 and Brent crude
futures LCOc1 both up just over 1.8%, bolstered by hopes OPEC
will delay a planned increase in production. Safe haven gold, meanwhile, was down 0.5% at $1,868.6 an
ounce, with U.S. gold futures GCv1 also slightly lower.
In Europe's debt markets, Germany saw its benchmark 10-year
government bond also strengthen slightly to trade flat on the
day, after earlier falling to its lowest since Pfizer gave a
positive COVID-19 vaccine update a week and a half ago.
"Yields continue to grind lower as more warning signs flash
about the near-term outlook," said Benjamin Schroeder, senior
rates strategist at ING.
"Euro zone spreads appear to have eyes only for QE
(quantitative easing), shrugging off volatility and EU
setbacks," he said, referring to news this week that Hungary and
Poland have blocked the adoption of the 2021-2027 budget and
recovery fund by European Union governments.

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COVID-19 https://tmsnrt.rs/3lKwe14
COVID-19 Global Tracker COVID-19 Global Tracker https://tmsnrt.rs/2FkV6wq
U.S. retail sales https://tmsnrt.rs/2Uz7jkY
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(Editing by Kim Coghill, Larry King, Toby Chopra and Alex
Richardson)