GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks pull back from record highs as big tech slides; yields retreat

* 10-year U.S. Treasury yields reach 1.33% before reversing
course
* MSCI world index falls 0.3%
* Bitcoin climbs above $52,000
* Brent crude prices at 13-month high

(Updates to U.S. close of trading)
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A gauge of global equity
markets pulled back on Wednesday from the record high hit in the
previous session as investors sold technology-related companies
and the prospect of rising inflation tempered optimism around a
vaccine-led global economic recovery.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields reached a one-year high to
trade near pre-pandemic levels, before reversing course even as
data pointed to a strengthening economy. The U.S. dollar gained
ground against a basket of major currencies.
Data on Wednesday showed U.S. retail sales rebounded sharply
in January after households received additional pandemic relief
money from the government, suggesting a pick-up in economic
activity after the restraints imposed by a fresh wave of
COVID-19 infections late last year. Other data showed inflation pressures building up at the
factory gate, with producer prices posting their biggest gain
since 2009 in January.
Facing a still-scarred economy that may need an extended
time to recover fully, Federal Reserve officials last month
debated how to lay the groundwork for the public to accept
coming higher inflation, and also the need to "stay vigilant"
for signs of stress in buoyant asset markets, according to
minutes of the U.S. central bank's Jan. 26-27 policy meeting.
The Fed has pledged to pin interest rates near zero until
inflation rises to 2% and looks set to exceed that goal.
That super-easy stance, coupled with the Biden
administration's proposed $1.9 trillion spending bill for
pandemic relief, has left some investors fretting over a coming
surge in inflation.
Inflation pressures may force the Fed to revise its policy
in the future, said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at
JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut. But, he added, "It's a
high threshold we have to cross in order to get them to react."
The MSCI's global stock index .MIWD00000PUS fell 0.31% to
682.91. The index touched a record intra-day high of 687.26 on
Tuesday, before erasing gains to snap an 11-day winning streak.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq fell as concerns about inflation
pressured stocks and as investors rotated out of technology
shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 90.27 points,
or 0.29%, to close at 31,613.02, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.26
points, or 0.03%, to end at 3,931.33 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 82.00 points, or 0.58%, to finish at 13,965.50.
European shares retreated from near one-year highs as
concerns about a possible rise in inflation tempered optimism
about a vaccine-led global economic recovery, while Kering
PRTP.PA tumbled after sales at its Gucci brand fell more than
expected. The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed down 0.74%.
The U.S. dollar rose, helped by upbeat economic data. The
dollar index =USD climbed 0.23% to reach a more than 1-week
high. Bitcoin charged to a record high on Wednesday, a day after
the cryptocurrency vaulted the $50,000 hurdle, even as analysts
warned about the sustainability of such prices amid elevated
volatility. Oil prices rose, underpinned by a major supply disruption in
the southern United States this week where a winter storm
pounded Texas. Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled at $64.34 a barrel, up
99 cents or 1.56%, while U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled
at $61.14 a barrel, up $1.09, or 1.82%.
Spot gold XAU= was down 1.09% at $1,774.71 an ounce.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Crawling back https://tmsnrt.rs/2LYM8Il
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>