(Updates to U.S. market open, changes dateline to NEW YORK from LONDON, changes byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 dropped and U.S. Treasury yields edged lower on Thursday as the euphoria over a potential COVID-19 vaccine faded in the face of spiking infections and the threat of a new round of economic shutdowns.
The blue-chip Dow was also in the red, but tech stocks helped keep the Nasdaq afloat, a reversal from the shift to economically-sensitive cyclical stocks on Monday and Tuesday.
"We had an incredible rush to cyclical and value names earlier this week, but the COVID concerns are bouncing and we're having a move back to the stay-at-home and tech stocks," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Monday, Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N announced the COVID-19 vaccine candidate it developed with German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O appears to be 90% effective at preventing infection, news that sent equity markets surging worldwide.
But new coronavirus infections in the U.S. and elsewhere are reaching record levels and tightening economic restrictions to contain the spread has dampened the prospect of a quick end to the global health crisis. Pfizer vaccine was wonderful news earlier this week but the continuing soaring new cases is a reminder that we're not out of the woods by any means," Detrick added. "People are off their sugar high and realizing we're likely going to have more shutdowns."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 95.37 points, or 0.32%, to 29,302.26, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.85 points, or 0.14%, to 3,567.81 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 38.21 points, or 0.32%, to 11,824.64.
A surge in new coronavirus infections prompted a retreat of European shares away from eight-month highs as hopes waned for a quick economic rebound. pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.87% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.05%.
Emerging market stocks rose 0.57%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.39% higher, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.68%.
U.S. Treasury yields, which can be viewed as a gauge of risk appetite, slumped amid the risk-off mood. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 21/32 in price to yield 0.9193%, from 0.989% late on Tuesday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR last rose 1-18/32 in price to yield 1.6893%, from 1.76% late on Tuesday.
Hopes that world producers will delay a planned supply increase helped crude oil prices sustain their rally, though the gains were capped by growing doubts over a near-term demand recovery. crude CLcv1 rose 0.31% to $41.58 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $44.38 per barrel, up 1.32% on the day.
The dollar edged lower against a basket of currencies, reflecting growing caution regarding vaccine expectations. dollar index .DXY fell 0.12%, with the euro EUR= up 0.31% to $1.1814.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.28% versus the greenback at 105.14 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3143, down 0.59% on the day.
The risk-off mood attracted investors back to gold, which continued to recover some ground that the safe-haven metal lost in Monday's plunge. gold XAU= added 0.9% to $1,881.16 an ounce.
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http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j Stocks hit new highs
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