Stocks climb with bonds, dollar dips as markets cheer US Treasury pick
Investors welcome Bessent as US Treasury secretary pick
Wall Street indexes up: S&P 500, Dow hit records
Dollar, US Treasury yields, oil prices all fall
Updates prices after U.S. stock market close
By Sinéad Carew and Nell Mackenzie
NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) -MSCI's global equities gauge rose and U.S. government bonds rallied while the dollar fell onMonday as investors welcomed the incoming U.S. president's selection of fund manager Scott Bessent as the next U.S. Treasury secretary.
Wall Street indexes closed higher with the S&P 500 and the Dow touching intraday recordsas investors approved of Donald Trump's choice. Investors said they were hoping for tax cuts as well as fiscal caution from Bessent.
U.S. Treasury yields fell sharply as bond investors bet on a more moderate than feared U.S. fiscal trajectory.
In an interview published on Sunday, Bessent told the Wall Street Journal that both tax and spending cuts were priorities.
And Bessent told CNBC earlier in November, before his selection as Treasury secretary, that he would recommend "tariffs be layered in gradually."
"Bessent understands a lot of different asset classes and is going to help Trump stay very sensitive to market reactions," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer, BMO family office noting that investors worried that other candidates forthe job would take a hard stance on tariffs and spending and think less about the potential market reaction.
"Markets are pretty self-centered. They want to make sure people are paying attention to them or they throw a tantrum."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 440.06 points, or 0.99%, to 44,736.57,which was a record closing high.
The S&P 500 .SPX rose 18.03 points, or 0.30%, to 5,987.37 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 51.18 points, or 0.27%, to 19,054.84.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 3.84 points, or 0.45%, to 857.97 while Europe's STOXX 600 .STOXX index had closedup 0.06% earlier.
The European index hit a two-week high during its trading session, boosted by the Bessent nomination and comments from the European Central Bank chief economist on monetary policy easing.
In a trading week shortened by Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, key events will include the release of October Personal Consumption Expenditures, the latest GDP estimate and U.S. Federal Reserve minutes from its last meeting.
Traders are hoping for aFed rate cut next month, though bets have been dialled back in recent weeks.
In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 14.1 basis points to 4.269%, from 4.41% late on Friday while the 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield fell 13.9 basis points to 4.4562%.
The two-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 10.5 basis points to 4.264%, from 4.369% late on Friday.
"He's a Wall Street guy, he's very good at what he does. He's not an extremist to the left or right. He's a sensible, smart businessman, and I think the market likes that, and he's anti-deficit," said Tony Farren, managing director at Mischler Financial Group, referring to Bessent.
In currencies, the dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.56% to 106.89.
The euro EUR= was up 0.74% against the dollar at $1.0494 while against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 0.37% to 154.16.
The euro had fallen sharply this month on worries over Trump tariffs, deteriorating economic conditions and signs of an escalation in Russia/Ukraine war.
Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel after reports that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, citing officials from Israel, Lebanon, the U.S. and France.
U.S. crude CLc1 futures settled down 3.23% or $2.30 at $68.94 per barrel and Brent LCOc1 finished at $73.01 per barrel, down 2.87% or $2.16 on the day.
Bitcoin BTC= fell more than 2% to $94,811.03after hitting a record of $99,830 on Friday as investors bet on a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies under Trump.
Gold prices fell sharply, breaking a five-session rally, as reports of Israel nearing a ceasefire with Hezbollah, coupled with Trump’s Treasury secretary pick, tarnished demand for the safe-haven precious metal.
Spot gold XAU= fell 3.14% to $2,627.27 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 fell 2.56% to $2,640.40 an ounce.
World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Sinéad Carew, Davide Barbuscia, Nell Mackenzie, Tom Westbrook, Kevin Buckland; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe, Kim Coghill, Stephen Coates, Jan Harvey, Ed Osmond, William Maclean and Cynthia Osterman
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