GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks hover near flat, sterling up after recent weakness

* U.S. stocks little changed in early trading
* European stocks up

(Updates with early U.S. markets' activity; changes dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Global equity indexes were
mostly near flat on Wednesday as upbeat COVID-19 vaccine news
was offset by lingering concern about the economic recovery,
while sterling gained after recent weakness.
The S&P 500 was unchanged after hitting a record high at the
opening.
Investors were hopeful for further U.S. economic relief and
more news on vaccines on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic
continued to take its toll on the U.S. economy.
The U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote Wednesday
on a one-week stopgap funding bill that will buy more time to
reach a deal on COVID-19 relief, with separate aid packages of
more than $900 billion on the table. "The market remains very optimistic that some sort of a
stimulus deal would be cut before the end of the year, and that
would indicate the economy may not falter or wind up in a
double-dip recession," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N this week said it could obtain
late-stage trial results for a single-dose vaccine in January,
earlier than expected. Britain this week became the first Western nation to begin a
wide vaccination campaign. However, Britain injected a note of
caution, saying people with a history of significant allergic
reactions responded adversely to the Pfizer PFE.N vaccine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 29.82 points,
or 0.1%, to 30,144.06, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.3 points, or
0.04%, to 3,700.95 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 8.16
points, or 0.06%, to 12,574.62.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.45% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.11%, also hitting a record high earlier.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3396, up 0.32% on the
day.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the European
Union on Wednesday it must scrap demands which he says are
unacceptable if there is to be a Brexit trade deal to avoid a
turbulent breakup in three weeks.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.129%. U.S. Treasury yields rose on hopes of more domestic fiscal
stimulus and on the vaccine news.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR yield was up
3.1 basis points at 0.9444% in morning trading.
Oil futures were down slightly LCOc1 CLc1 , while spot
gold prices XAU= were down more than 1%, with the start of
vaccine treatment reducing safe-haven demand for the precious
metal.

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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 Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Rebound of major world markets https://tmsnrt.rs/370lXbY
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