* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* MSCI ex-Japan rises
* Wall Street makes new records, Oil reaches 13-month high,
* Dollar falls, bitcoin rests
By Alun John and David Henry
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday after
a record-setting day on Wall Street, while bitcoin paused for
breath after an overnight endorsement from Tesla Inc TSLA.O
sent the cryptocurrency up 20%.
Oil also hit 13-month highs, helped by rising optimism about
a return in fuel demand,
However, in a sign that positive sentiment may run out in
European trading, eurostoxx futures STXEc1 were down 0.05%,
London's FTSE futures FFIc1 fell 0.12%, and E-mini futures for
the S&P 500 ESc1 were flat.
Back in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.37% to 722.95 after
climbing as high as 730.16 late last month.
Gains were led by Chinese blue chips .CSI300 which were up
1.67%, while the Hong Kong benchmark .HSI rose 0.51% and
Korea's .KS200 rose 0.27%, with chip giants benefiting from
the bitcoin excitement.
Iris Pang chief economist for Greater China at ING said
Chinese markets' strong performance was a result of investors
buying ahead of the Chinese New Year break, anticipating that
prices would be higher after the holiday.
Chinese stock exchanges are closed for a week from Thursday.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 was up 0.27%.
Tuesday's gains in Asia matched the so-called reflation
trades around the world, in which global markets bid up stocks,
oil and gold while U.S. Treasury yields held shy of 11-month
highs.
"Reflation on the back of U.S. fiscal stimulus and positive
vaccine news remains the major theme for markets," strategists
at National Australia Bank wrote.
Expectations have been building that inflation would pick up
as governments and central banks continue massive spending and
easy money policies until officials are certain that their
economies will recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street reached all-time closing highs on Monday as the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added nearly 1% and the S&P 500 .SPX
and the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI gained about 0.75%.
In more volatile cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin BTC=BTSP
passed $47,000 for the first time, a 20% rise, before
fluctuating a little below that level.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O said overnight it had invested around
$1.5 billion in the virtual currency and expects to accept it as
payment for its cars in the future. Justin d'Anethan, sales manager at digital asset company
Diginex, said most of the selling pressure in Asia had been
absorbed.
"This morning, after over $1.2 billion of leveraged shorts
got liquidated, the usual sellers of crypto will probably think
twice before dumping their coins," d'Anethan said.
Oil prices continued to rise on Tuesday to 13-month highs.
Brent LCOc1 rose 45 cents, or 0.74%, U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $58.39 a barrel, up 43 cents,
also 0.74%.
"There is a sense that the glut of oil supply is
disappearing more rapidly than anybody thought possible," said
Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
"There seems to be a paradigm shift in the market."
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.37% to $1,837 an ounce, a week high,
as expectations of a large U.S. economic stimulus package
bolstered its appeal as an inflation hedge.
Such expectations hit the dollar index =USD , which dropped
back further on Tuesday after tripping at the end of last week
on a weaker-than-expected jobs report. It was last down 0.25% at
90.728.
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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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