Global shares reach new highs on U.S. equities markets

A street sign for Wall Street is seen outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City · Reuters

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By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global equity markets reached new highs for the second straight session, boosted by U.S. equities, while Treasury bond yields eased and the dollar was little changed as investors awaited jobs data that could sway Federal Reserve monetary policy.

MSCI's all country world index, which tracks shares across 50 countries, closed at 722.05, or 0.02% higher. New highs set by the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq offset declines in the major French, German and UK bourses because the global index is U.S.-centric.

Weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation and news of a possible bipartisan U.S. infrastructure agreement over the weekend boosted risk appetite on Monday. The infrastructure plan is valued at $1.2 trillion over eight years, of which $579 billion is new spending.

While less than the White House's initial proposal, the total amount will likely be greater than Republicans' initial figure and may lead Congress to a "two-bill track," which would be a boon for the reflation trade, said Solita Marcelli, UBS global wealth management's chief investment officer for the Americas.

While still near record highs, growing concern about the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus weighed on European stocks on Monday.

Indonesia is battling record-high cases, Malaysia is set to extend a lockdown and Thailand has announced new restrictions.

As measured by the pan-European STOXX 600 index, European stocks closed down an unofficial 0.53%. Germany's DAX fell 0.34%, while France's CAC 40 slid 0.89% and Britain's FTSE 100 index dipped 0.88%.

The region's sectoral index for travel and leisure stocks fell to a one-month low. However, JPMorgan analysts do not expect a long-term negative impact.

"While (the Delta variant) might slow the easing of restrictions in some countries...it is unlikely to pose a significant threat to the ongoing recovery," JPMorgan analysts wrote.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 151.56 points, or 0.44%, to 34,282.28, the S&P 500 gained 9.88 points, or 0.23%, to 4,290.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 140.12 points, or 0.98%, to 14,500.51.

Canada's Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index hit an all-time high of 20,273.6 early but later erased those gains, as the energy sector fell 2.5% on the lower price of oil.

Earlier in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.16 points, or 0.02 percent, to 703.61. Australian shares slipped 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's benchmark KOPS were barely changed.