* Euro STOXX up 0.7%
* German stocks hits record high
* Equities gain on economic optimism
* Treasury market remains calm after sell-off
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Tom Wilson and Stanley White
LONDON/TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) - Global shares gained on
Wednesday, with European indexes echoing positive moves in Asia,
as a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields fuelled demand for riskier
assets and weakened the dollar.
The Euro STOXX 600 .STOXX added 0.7%, with Frankfurt
shares .GDAXI climbing 0.9% to a record high and London's FTSE
.FTSE adding 1.3% before the UK's new budget is introduced,
with measures to boost the economy.
Carmakers .SXAP led the gains, adding as much as 2.6% to
reach their highest since June 2018.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.7%, led by shares in China .CSI300 .
E-mini S&P futures ESc1 were up 0.6%.
The gains for equities came as benchmark U.S. government
bond yields continued to stabilise after last month's sell-off.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR stood at
1.41%, down from last week's one-year high of 1.61%, before a
slew of U.S. economic data set for release later this week. Bond
yields rise when prices fall.
Surging yields across the world, fuelled by moves in
Treasuries, have buffeted financial markets in recent weeks.
Investors were betting a strong U.S. economic rebound amid
ultra-loose monetary conditions would fuel inflation.
Still, optimism that more imminent U.S. stimulus will
energise the global economic recovery buoyed stocks, with U.S.
President Joe Biden close to passing a $1.9 trillion spending
package.
"We are caught in the middle of this crossfire between a
more positive macro situation, and some excesses that have been
developing here and there," said Olivier Marciot, senior
portfolio manager at Unigestion.
"The market is reassessing the situation as whether or not
it (stock market gains) have been too high and too fast."
Wall Street had ended lower on Tuesday, pulled down by Apple
AAPL.O and Tesla TSLA.O as fears on overly high valuations
lingered.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 countries, gained 0.4%.
FROTHY PRICES?
Some analysts continued to warn that stock prices may be
frothy - a fear echoed by a top Chinese regulatory official on
Tuesday - and as result make it hard for equity markets to hang
on to gains.
Fears that last week's sell-off in U.S. Treasuries, which
rattled stock markets, could resume may also put a lid on stock
prices, they said.
"While markets have stabilised ..., the tone remains tenuous
as investors continue to fear a further sell-off in rates,"
analysts at TD Securities said in a note.
The cautious mood weighed on the U.S. dollar. It had gained
in recent days from investor hopes that the United States would
enjoy a faster economic recovery, and that the U.S. central bank
would tolerate higher bond yields.
An index of the dollar =USD against six of its major peers
=USD was little changed at 90.787, after dropping back from a
nearly one-month high overnight.
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 , which has benefited from
bets on an acceleration in global trade, rose 0.1% to $0.7820 as
stronger-than-expected economic growth in the fourth quarter
fuelled hopes for a V-shaped recovery from the coronavirus
pandemic. Oil prices rose as signs of progress in the COVID-19 vaccine
rollout in the United States, the world's biggest consumer,
raised demand expectations.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose 0.4% to
$59.99 a barrel. Brent futures LCOc1 rose by the same amount
to $62.96. O/R
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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
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