GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks inch higher; Bitcoin dips after hitting record

* Wall Street headed for second straight weekly gain
* Bitcoin dips after hitting record high of $49,000

(Updates with midday U.S. markets activity, changes byline,
dateline, previous LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were mostly higher
on Friday as investors awaited progress towards more U.S. fiscal
stimulus and the dollar gained after several days of losses,
while cryptocurrency Bitcoin eased after hitting a record high.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was on track to post
gains for a 10th straight session.
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group
of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for
approval of a $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief plan to bolster
economic growth and help millions of unemployed workers.
Indexes have held near record highs as investors bet on more
government spending. "There seems to be a pause in the negotiations for the
stimulus so that kind of takes a lot of air out of the room,"
said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital
Partners in Pittsburgh.
U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday because of the
Presidents Day holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 2.31 points, or
0.01%, to 31,428.39, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 7.88 points, or
0.20%, to 3,924.26 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 28.38
points, or 0.2%, to 14,054.15.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.64% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.25%.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP , meanwhile, was down 0.8% on the day at
$47,613, after hitting a record high of $49,000. It was on track
for gains of roughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the
endorsement of major firms such as Elon Musk's Tesla TSLA.O .
The dollar index =USD fell 0.01%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.02% to $1.2126. U.S. Treasury yields rose and inflation expectations jumped
to their highest levels since 2014 after the U.S. Treasury
Department on Thursday saw weak demand for new 30-year bonds.
The Treasury saw soft demand for $27 billion in 30-year
bonds, its final sale of $126 billion in coupon-bearing supply
this week.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 9/32 in price
to yield 1.1882%, from 1.158% late on Thursday.
Oil prices were higher, helped by the hopes for a U.S.
stimulus bill.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.1% to $1,823.96 an ounce.

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