GLOBAL MARKETS-Markets tap brakes on asset rise after getting ahead of recovery

By David Henry
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Stocks were flat in early trading in Asia
on Thursday as investors kept tapping the brakes on runs in
asset prices after taking in tepid U.S. inflation data and
comments from the Federal Reserve chief affirming the outlook
for a slow recovery.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index .AXJO was last up 0.02%
while e-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 edged up 0.05%.
"Some of the steam has run out of the engine over the last
couple of trading sessions," said Jarrod Kerr, chief economist
at Kiwibank.
"We've had a good run, but the data hasn't kept up," said
Kerr, predicting that bond yields and stocks will still end the
year higher after a pause in the reflation trade.
The pause coincides with much of Asia going into extended
holidays for the Lunar New Year.
On Wednesday, markets around the globe saw choppy trading
and mild moves in most asset prices, with the exception of U.S.
Treasuries where yields tumbled after data showed inflation
stayed benign in January, disappointing investors betting on
increasing price pressures.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries slid to 1.135%
after rising to 1.176%. On Monday the yield had reached 1.2%, an
11-month high. The move was reinforced when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell, who has pledged to keep interest rates low, said the
U.S. labor market still was "a long way" from full employment.
Wall Street stocks shrugged off Powell's comments. Major
indexes were little changed, though the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI snared a 0.2% gain to a record close of 31,437.80
The S&P 500 .SPX slipped 0.03% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC lost 0.25% from a record close the day before.
Within the indexes, there was further rotation of money from
some big tech stocks toward energy shares, financial stocks,
broadening the market leadership. European shares also closed lower on Wednesday, with
pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index finished 0.2% in the red.
The dollar index =USD drifted 0.2% lower after the tame
U.S. inflation data, posting its third down day on losses
against sterling and euro. FRX/ Cryptocurrency
bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down more than 3% to $45,140.10 at 23:27
GMT.
On Tuesday, bitcoin had hit $48,216 following Tesla's
disclosure of a $1.5 billion investment in the virtual currency.
vnL1N2KF0L8
U.S. crude CLc1 fell early on Thursday by 0.36% to $58.47
per barrel and Brent LCOc1 was at $61.10, up 0.02%.
On Wednesday, oil rose for ninth day, its longest winning
streak in two years, supported by producer supply cuts and hopes
vaccine rollouts will boost demand. Some remained cautious about crude's rally. "The current
price levels are healthier than the actual market and entirely
reliant on supply cuts, as demand still needs to recover," said
Bjornar Tonhaugen of Rystad Energy.
Commodity traders will also watch platinum, which jumped
over 5% on Wednesday and raced to a six-year peak on the outlook
for demand from the automobile sector. Platinum XPT= edged down 0.3% in early trading on Thursday
and was last at $1,239.8.
Spot gold XAU= was last up 0.1% to $1,843.23. U.S. gold
futures GCv1 settled up 0.3% on Wednesday.
"Gold's in a bit of tug of war," said ED&F Man Capital
Markets analyst Edward Meir. While the weaker dollar is bullish,
expectations for a big U.S. stimulus package point toward higher
interest rates which may holding gold less attractive, he said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>