(Adds close of U.S. markets)
* World stocks hover near record highs, best year since 2009
* Nasdaq posts ninth straight record close
* STOXX 600 index in Europe hits all-time high
* Hopes for monetary easing lift China shares
* Gold futures soar past $1,500 an ounce
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Gold surged past $1,500 an
ounce and a gauge of global equity markets hovered near record
highs on Tuesday in a year-end rally spurred by hopes of a
U.S.-Sino Phase 1 trade deal and as China's latest policy easing
pledge added to investor optimism.
President Donald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi
Jinping will sign the initial phase of the pending trade pact in
a ceremony, the latest remarks by the U.S. leader to flag the
deal is close to being finalized. European stocks ground out fresh record gains as did the
Nasdaq on Wall Street as equities remained on track to post
their best year in a decade.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX added 0.14% as it
touched an all-time high and the domestically focused mid-cap
index .FTMC in Britain rose 0.63% to hit a new high.
France's CAC 40 .FCHI and Spain's IBEX 35 .IBEX both
closed little changed, while German, Italian and Swiss country
indexes were closed for the day.
Blue-chip shares in China .CSI300 rose 0.7% after Premier
Li Keqiang said the government was considering more measures to
lower corporate financing costs and hinted at "targeted" cuts in
banks' reserve requirement ratio. Gold passing $1,500 was big news in a quiet Christmas Eve
session as it suggested investors may be hedging against a
possible inflation hike next year, said Michael Arone, chief
investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
Arone said he doubted inflation will be strong enough to
negatively affect the market, but it could provide a jolt to
investors lulled by interest rates below the historic norm.
"Even today with lighter volumes and high absenteeism, gold
has breached $1,500," he said.
"To me it's indicative of this idea that potentially you
could have an inflation scare in 2020 and perhaps investors are
beginning to position themselves for such a scare," Arone said.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose more than 1% to hit a high of
$1,505.00 an ounce.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS %,
while its emerging market index lost 0.24%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
36.08 points, or 0.13%, to 28,515.45. The S&P 500 .SPX lost
0.63 points, or 0.02%, to 3,223.38 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 7.24 points, or 0.08%, to 8,952.88.
The dollar was little changed against the euro and Japanese
yen in holiday-thinned trading and U.S. Treasury yields rose,
bolstered by a strong auction of five-year notes. Euro zone bond
markets were shut.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.03%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.03% to $1.1083. The yen JPY= strengthened 0.03% versus
the greenback to 109.37 per dollar.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 9/32 in price
to yield 1.9031%.
Oil prices rose after Russia said cooperation with the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on supply cuts
would continue and amid optimism that the United States and
China could finalize the trade pact.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 81 cents at $67.20 a barrel,
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 rose 59 cents to
settle at $61.11 a barrel.
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World stocks pile on more that $10 trillion in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2PIlIJT
Global markets in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2Q4zTYN
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