* MSCI ACWI hits record high; Apple leads tech shares
* Relief over U.S.-Iran tensions support sentiment
* Gold, safe-haven currencies, oil all weaker
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The world's shares hit a record
high on Friday as a relief over de-escalation of U.S.-Iranian
tensions quickly prompted investors to bet on faster global
growth, especially in the technology sector.
MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stocks in 49 countries
.MIWD00000PUS rose a tad to hit an all-time high and its index
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.18%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.34% while Australian stocks
.AXJO rallied 0.7% to a record high. Chinese shares .SSEC
were little changed.
Asia's gains followed record-setting in the pan-regional
STOXX 600 index in Europe .STOXX and the three major stock
indexes on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.67%, with its technology sector
rising more than 1%. Apple AAPL.O gained 2.1%, helped by news
that sales of its iPhones in China in December jumped more than
18% year-on-year. .N
Investors welcomed the report as a prelude to the upcoming
visit by China's Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country's
negotiation team in Sino-U.S. trade talks, to Washington next
week to sign a trade deal with the United States. "We will have a symbolic event of Sino-U.S. dialogue. Given
the current strength of the market, it is hard not to expect
this rally to continue for the time being," said Norihiro
Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities in Tokyo.
Global shares quickly erased losses that followed missile
attacks from Iran targeting U.S. forces in Iraq, as the two
countries moved to defuse the tension.
"On top of easing tensions in Iran, optimism on U.S.
corporate earnings are fuelling sentiment. The euphoria is
coming back to the markets," said Masanari Takada, cross asset
strategist at Nomura Securities.
While analysts expect slight declines in profits for S&P 500
companies in the last quarter, they see a solid recovery this
year.
Waning worries about all-out war in the Middle East pushed
down gold, safe-harbour currencies and oil.
Gold XAU= eased 0.3% to $1,547.8 per ounce from a
seven-year high of $1,610.90 hit right after Iran's missile
attack on Wednesday.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar traded at 109.52 yen
JPY= , having hit a two-week high of 109.58 in U.S. trade on
Thursday.
The euro stood little changed at $1.1105 EUR= , having
fallen to $1.10915 in the U.S. trade, its lowest in about two
weeks.
Sterling fell to a near two-week low against the U.S. dollar
after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there could be a
"relatively prompt response" from the bank if the current spell
of economic weakness persisted. The pound last stood at $1.3069, having fallen to as low as
$1.3014 in the previous session.
Oil prices were sharply lower from their highs hit in the
wake of Iran's missile attack.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell to as
low as $58.66 per barrel on Thursday and last stood at $59.38,
down 0.3% on the day, compared to Wednesday's peak of $65.65.
China's Vice Premier Liu to sign U.S. trade deal in Washington
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