GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks edge up following upbeat vaccine news; sterling dips

* S&P 500 reverses early losses to trade higher
* Sterling slips
* Johnson & Johnson higher after vaccine news

(Updates with Europeans stocks close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes rose on
Tuesday after encouraging COVID-19 vaccine news, while Brexit
deal talks weighed on sterling.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reversed earlier declines to
trade higher and hit record intraday highs by early New York
afternoon.
Johnson & Johnson shares JNJ.N rose after the company said
it could obtain late-stage trial results of a single-dose
COVID-19 vaccine it is developing, earlier than expected.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N also gained as it cleared the next hurdle
in the race to get its COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency
use, after the U.S. health regulator released documents raising
no new safety or efficacy issues.
There is much near-term negative news because of the virus
but at the same time, a lot of positive news because of the
vaccine, said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments
in New Jersey.
Stocks were mostly lower earlier in the session, with
COVID-19 infections nationwide in the United States at their
peak, with an average of 193,863 new cases reported each day
over the past week, a Reuters tally of official data showed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 103.92 points,
or 0.35%, to 30,173.71, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.28 points,
or 0.25%, to 3,701.24 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
52.65 points, or 0.42%, to 12,572.59.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX ended up 0.2% on
the day, while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe
.MIWD00000PUS gained 0.16%.
Investors were trying to assess how widely and quickly
vaccines might be available.
A 90-year-old grandmother became the world's first person to
receive a fully-tested COVID-19 shot as Britain began
mass-vaccinating its people in a global drive.
With just three weeks left to break a deadlock in trade deal
negotiations, talk of a chaotic British split from the European
Union grew on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said
the two sides may have to accept "no deal". In the foreign exchange market, sterling GBP= was last
trading at $1.3364, down 0.09% on the day, while the dollar
index =USD was up 0.1%.
Investors are also awaiting a two-day EU summit that begins
Thursday, and the bloc is ready to set up its planned EU
stimulus without Hungary and Poland, which are maintaining their
veto of the EU budget.
Most U.S. Treasury yields were lower as investors watched
for news on vaccines and their distribution.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 6/32 in price
to yield 0.91%, from 0.93% late on Monday. Oil prices .LCOc1 .CLc1 were near unchanged, while spot
gold prices XAU= were higher.

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