* U.S. stock index hit record highs at open, then paresgains
* U.S. dollar dropped to two-week low(Updates with European stocks close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) – MSCI’s gauge of stocks acrossthe globe was slightly higher on Wednesday and on track for aneighth day of gains, while U.S. Treasury yields tumbled as U.S.data showed inflation stayed benign in January.
Major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs at the openingbefore losing steam. The S&P 500 was nearly flat in afternoonNew York trading, with investors awaiting a speech by FederalReserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Bets on more fiscal aid have powered Wall Street’s mainindexes to a series of all-time peaks recently, with investorsmoving into sectors such as energy, banks and industrials thatare poised to benefit from a recovering economy.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he agreed with aproposal by Democratic lawmakers that would send $1,400 stimuluschecks to Americans earning up to $75,000 and households makingup to $150,000.
Executives from Robinhood, Melvin Capital and CitadelSecurities are expected to testify before a U.S. House ofRepresentatives panel at a Feb. 18 hearing exploring tradingturmoil in GameStop Corp and other stocks, according toa Reuters report citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Interest from retail investors appeared to lift cannabisstocks broadly higher on Wednesday, signaling that the recenttrading frenzy behind Reddit favorites such as GameStop isshifting to other companies. Shares of Tilrayjumped 36%.
Earnings contributed to earlier optimism in equitiesmarkets, with French bank Societe Generale among those beatingfourth-quarter profit expectations.
Twitter Inc shares were up 8.7%, a day after thecompany beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales andprofit and followed its social media peers to forecast a strongstart to 2021 as ad spending rebounds from a rock bottom.
“Although visibility isn’t great into the future, theanalysts are extrapolating that into higher earnings throughoutthis year than may be what folks had feared six months ago,”said Eric Marshall, portfolio manager and head of research atHodges Capital Management in Dallas.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.25 points,or 0.14%, to 31,420.08, the S&P 500 lost 2.17 points, or0.06%, to 3,909.06 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped21.22 points, or 0.15%, to 13,986.48.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.23% andMSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained0.21%.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, consolidated recent gains onWednesday, trading 3.7% lower at $44,799. It hit a new high of$48,216 on Tuesday following Tesla’s disclosure of a$1.5 billion investment in the virtual currency.
The dollar was weighed down by U.S. inflation data, whilebenchmark U.S. Treasury yields also tumbled.
The U.S. data showed that inflation stayed benign inJanuary, disappointing investors betting that price pressureswould increase more. The Labor Department said its consumerprice index increased 0.3% last month after climbing a revised0.2% in December.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 6/32 in priceto yield 1.1379%, from 1.157% late on Tuesday.
The dollar index fell 0.12%, with the euro up0.12% to $1.2131.
Oil rose, extending its rally for a ninth day, its longestwinning streak in two years, supported by producer supply cutsand hopes vaccine rollouts will drive a recovery in demand.
Brent crude was up 30 cents, or 0.5%, at $61.39after touching a 13-month high of $61.61 earlier in the session.U.S. crude was up 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.57, havingtouched $58.76, also a 13-month high.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $1,842.16 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in London and DevikJain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru;Editing by Larry King, Steve Orlofsky, Peter Graff)
