GLOBAL MARKETS-World stock markets hit two-week high as inflation worries abate

* ECB says it will speed up bond purchases
* U.S. initial jobless claims less than expected
* Tech shares lead Wall Street higher

(Updates with close of U.S. markets, oil settlement prices)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - A gauge of global stock
markets climbed for a third straight session on Thursday to hit
its highest level in two weeks, as a dip in government bond
yields helped curb inflation concerns and give a boost to
equities.
Euro zone bond yields fell after the European Central Bank
said it was ready to accelerate money-printing to keep a lid on
euro zone borrowing costs, using its 1.85 trillion euro Pandemic
Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) more generously over the
coming months to stop any unwarranted rise in debt financing
costs. Germany's 10-year government bond yield DE10YT=RR was last
at -0.333%, after falling as far as -0.367%, the lowest level
since Feb. 18 and further away from the near one-year high of
-0.203% in late February.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR
fell as low as 1.475%, the first time it had dipped below 1.5%
in a week. It last fell 2/32 in price to yield 1.5266%, from
1.52% late on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the easing inflation worry helped support
equities, with the highly valued technology sector .SPLRCT
leading the way higher, up 2.12%. Expensive stocks, many of
which are in the tech sector, have been highly sensitive to the
rise in yields.
In contrast, shares of bank stocks .SPXBK lost 0.47%.
Still, while the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs, the
tech-heavy Nasdaq paced the gains, rising more than 2% on the
day.
"A lot of it depends on rates, a lot of it depends on that
initial prick that started that transition from large cap tech
to the rest of the market and small caps," said Keith Buchanan,
senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta.
"If rates continue to trend higher that trend will continue,
if rates kind of stall out like they have over the next couple
of days then we could have a back and forth that hopefully isn't
as volatile as it has been the last couple of days, but we
should expect there is going to be a lot of action."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 188.57 points,
or 0.58%, to 32,485.59, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 40.46 points,
or 1.04%, to 3,939.27 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
329.84 points, or 2.52%, to 13,398.67.
Sentiment was also boosted by weekly jobless claims data,
which pointed to a recovering U.S. labor market as vaccine
rollouts have helped lead to economic reopenings. European stocks climbed, with the pan-European STOXX 600
higher for a fourth straight day, its longest winning streak in
five weeks, with the index closing at its highest level since
Feb. 21, 2020. The STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.49% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
1.37%.
An auction of 30-year U.S. debt on Thursday was viewed as
slightly weak, but nowhere near the disappointing seven-year
auction in late February that helped fuel inflation concerns and
sent yields higher. Analysts largely expect inflation to pick up as vaccine
rollouts lead to a reopening of the economy, but worries persist
that additional stimulus in the form of a $1.9 trillion
coronavirus relief package set to be signed by U.S. President
Joe Biden could overheat the economy. The dollar was weaker for a third straight day coming off a
3-1/2-month high of 92.506 on Tuesday. The dollar index =USD
fell 0.48%, with the euro EUR= up 0.52% to $1.1987.
Oil prices resumed their climb following two days of
declines, buoyed by the brightening economic outlook and a
decline in the dollar.
U.S. crude CLc1 settled up 2.5% at $66.02 per barrel and
Brent LCOc1 was at $69.63, up 2.6% on the day.

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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
Global asset performance in 2021 http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
Global currencies vs. dollar YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Jobless claims https://tmsnrt.rs/2N9a3pd
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