<p class="bodytext">Stocks ended near the previous session record high on Wednesday as Wall Street bumped up against disappointing job market data, while oil continued to rise and the dollar weakened further.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US dollar has lost some of its safe-haven luster as traders turn to riskier assets, including some funded in other currencies, following positive news about Covid-19 vaccines and a seemingly normalizing US transition of power.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen's reported nomination to Treasury secretary has emboldened those risk bets and further weighed on the dollar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"From here, the Fed will prove a mere auxiliary to maximize fiscal impact by ensuring cheap funding," said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The long-term implications of the Yellen nomination are distinctly dollar negative."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The dollar index fell 0.147%, with the euro up 0.24% to $1.1916.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Japanese yen was flat versus the greenback to 104.44 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.3383, up 0.20% on the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wall Street, a surprise jump in weekly jobless claims added to signs the recovery in the labor market was stalling as the United States battled a new wave of Covid-19 infections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks was last flat after renewed demand for shares earlier pushed it to a record high of 622.12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The rally in global stocks is set to continue for at least six months, a Reuters poll forecast on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.77 points, or 0.58%, to 29,872.47, the S&P 500 lost 5.76 points, or 0.16%, to 3,629.65 and the Nasdaq Composite added 57.08 points, or 0.47%, to 12,094.40.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The question is, who wins the battle: the vaccines, or the rising cases in the short term?" said Christopher C. Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Daily US deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 2,000 for the first time since May, with hospitals in parts of the country already full.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A separate Reuters survey, meanwhile, found that optimism around vaccine developments and expectations of a recovery in corporate confidence and profitability should push European stocks to near record highs next year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wednesday the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.08% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.50% after touching a 29-year high.</p>.<p class="bodytext">MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.57% lower, with Chinese shares capped by worries about rising debt defaults.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The job market data, an unexpected rise in applications for unemployment insurance, weighed on Treasury yields.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 1/32 in price to yield 0.8832%, from 0.882% late on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think a lot of people got ahead of themselves imagining that the recovery was taking shape. To me the recovery isn't taking shape until we have a viable vaccine," said Justin Lederer, Treasury analyst and trader at Cantor Fitzgerald.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Data showing a surprise drop in weekly US crude inventories extended a rally in oil prices driven by hopes that a Covid-19 vaccine will boost fuel demand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Crude oil prices are trading at their highest levels since early March, supported by positive market sentiment as a result of vaccine news and strong oil demand in Asia," said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We maintain our bullish outlook for next year and target Brent to hit $60 per barrel at the end of 2021," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. bonds and stocks will trade on a partial schedule on Friday.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Stocks ended near the previous session record high on Wednesday as Wall Street bumped up against disappointing job market data, while oil continued to rise and the dollar weakened further.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US dollar has lost some of its safe-haven luster as traders turn to riskier assets, including some funded in other currencies, following positive news about Covid-19 vaccines and a seemingly normalizing US transition of power.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen's reported nomination to Treasury secretary has emboldened those risk bets and further weighed on the dollar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"From here, the Fed will prove a mere auxiliary to maximize fiscal impact by ensuring cheap funding," said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The long-term implications of the Yellen nomination are distinctly dollar negative."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The dollar index fell 0.147%, with the euro up 0.24% to $1.1916.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Japanese yen was flat versus the greenback to 104.44 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.3383, up 0.20% on the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wall Street, a surprise jump in weekly jobless claims added to signs the recovery in the labor market was stalling as the United States battled a new wave of Covid-19 infections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks was last flat after renewed demand for shares earlier pushed it to a record high of 622.12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The rally in global stocks is set to continue for at least six months, a Reuters poll forecast on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.77 points, or 0.58%, to 29,872.47, the S&P 500 lost 5.76 points, or 0.16%, to 3,629.65 and the Nasdaq Composite added 57.08 points, or 0.47%, to 12,094.40.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The question is, who wins the battle: the vaccines, or the rising cases in the short term?" said Christopher C. Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Daily US deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 2,000 for the first time since May, with hospitals in parts of the country already full.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A separate Reuters survey, meanwhile, found that optimism around vaccine developments and expectations of a recovery in corporate confidence and profitability should push European stocks to near record highs next year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wednesday the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.08% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.50% after touching a 29-year high.</p>.<p class="bodytext">MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.57% lower, with Chinese shares capped by worries about rising debt defaults.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The job market data, an unexpected rise in applications for unemployment insurance, weighed on Treasury yields.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 1/32 in price to yield 0.8832%, from 0.882% late on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think a lot of people got ahead of themselves imagining that the recovery was taking shape. To me the recovery isn't taking shape until we have a viable vaccine," said Justin Lederer, Treasury analyst and trader at Cantor Fitzgerald.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Data showing a surprise drop in weekly US crude inventories extended a rally in oil prices driven by hopes that a Covid-19 vaccine will boost fuel demand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Crude oil prices are trading at their highest levels since early March, supported by positive market sentiment as a result of vaccine news and strong oil demand in Asia," said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We maintain our bullish outlook for next year and target Brent to hit $60 per barrel at the end of 2021," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. bonds and stocks will trade on a partial schedule on Friday.</p>