NEW YORK:Global equity markets reached new highs for the second straight session, boosted by U.S. equities, while Treasury bond yields eased and the dollar was little changed as investors awaited jobs data that could sway Federal Reserve monetary policy.

       MSCI's all country world index, which tracks shares across 50 countries, closed at 722.05, or 0.02% higher. New highs set by the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq offset declines in the major French, German and UK bourses because the global index is U.S.-centric.

       Weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation and news of a possible bipartisan U.S. infrastructure agreement over the weekend boosted risk appetite on Monday. The infrastructure plan is valued at $1.2 trillion over eight years, of which $579 billion is new spending.

       While less than the White House's initial proposal, the total amount will likely be greater than Republicans' initial figure and may lead Congress to a "two-bill track," which would be a boon for the reflation trade, said Solita Marcelli, UBS global wealth management's chief investment officer for the Americas.

       While still near record highs, growing concern about the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus weighed on European stocks on Monday.

       Indonesia is battling record-high cases, Malaysia is set to extend a lockdown and Thailand has announced new restrictions.

       As measured by the pan-European STOXX 600 index, European stocks closed down an unofficial 0.53%. Germany's DAX fell 0.34%, while France's CAC 40 slid 0.89% and Britain's FTSE 100 index dipped 0.88%.

       The region's sectoral index for travel and leisure stocks fell to a one-month low. However, JPMorgan analysts do not expect a long-term negative impact.

       "While (the Delta variant) might slow the easing of restrictions in some countries...it is unlikely to pose a significant threat to the ongoing recovery," JPMorgan analysts wrote.

       On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 151.56 points, or 0.44%, to 34, 282.28, the S&P 500 gained 9.88 points, or 0.23%, to 4, 290.58 and the Nasdaq Composite added 140.12 points, or 0.98%, to 14, 500.51.

       Canada's Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index hit an all-time high of 20, 273.6 early but later erased those gains, as the energy sector fell 2.5% on the lower price of oil.

       Earlier in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.16 points, or 0.02 percent, to 703.61. Australian shares slipped 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's benchmark KOPS were barely changed.

       Chinese shares were a touch higher, with the CSI300 index up 0.2%. Data over the weekend showed profit growth at China's industrial firms slowed again in May, as surging raw material prices squeezed margins and pressured factory activity.

       Investors will keep a close eye on official factory activity from China due on Wednesday. The manufacturing reading is expected to slow to 50.7 from 51. The private sector Caixin Manufacturing PMI will follow later in the week.

       Oil prices fell 2% to a one-week low after hitting their highest since 2018 earlier in the session, pressured by the spike in COVID-19 cases in Asia ahead of this week's OPEC+ meeting.

       Brent crude settled down $1.50, or 1.97%, at $74.68 a barrel. U.S. crude was last down $1.12, or 1.51%, at $72.93 per barrel.

       On Friday, a closely-watched U.S. jobs report which could point to strong labor demand will be released for June.

       Yields for benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell as investors awaited that jobs report -- last down 5.4 basis points at 1.4816%.

       The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, rose 0.049 points, or 0.05 percent, to 91.9.

       The yen was last down 0.14%, at $110.6200.

       Spot gold was steady at $1, 779.70 per ounce by 13:31 p.m. EDT (1731 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled up 0.2% at $1, 780.70.

       Reuters also reported separately:

       The Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit all-time highs on Monday, fueled by tech stocks as investors expect a robust earnings season while interest rates remain low.

       Big tech companies including Facebook Inc, Netflix Inc, Twitter Inc and Nvidia Corp were among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

       The S&P 500 continued its recent momentum after paring some earlier losses, recording its third record high in a row, after logging its best weekly performance in 20 weeks last Friday.

       In contrast, cyclical sectors dropped sharply amid fears over a spike in COVID-19 cases across Asia. Financials and energy posted the biggest sectoral loss on S&P 500, down by 0.81% and 3.33%, respectively.

       "It's end of the quarter and investors may want to take some profits and rotate out of energy and stick with tech," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

       Stovall expects stocks should continue their near-term climb as investors await the new earnings season, in which year-over-year earnings growth of S&P 500 companies is expected to top 60%.

       The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150.57 points, or 0.44%, to close at 34, 283.27. The S&P 500 pared earlier losses and advanced from Friday's record high by gaining 9.91 points, or 0.23%, to 4, 290.61. The Nasdaq Composite added 140.12 points, or 0.98%, to 14, 500.51.

       Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit a series of record highs last week. the tech-heavy Nasdaq's 5% gain in June is outpacing its peers as investors pile back in to tech-oriented growth stocks on diminishing worries about runaway inflation.

       "We believe with the Fed putting a realistic goal post, investors now have much more of a risk-on mentality going into the second half of the year. A lot of these tech names have underperformed, while fundamentals were very robust going into the June quarter," said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives, who expects the Nasdaq to hit 16, 000 by year-end.

       Facebook jumped over 4% as a U.S. judge granted the company's motion to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit. The social media giant finished Monday with over $1 trillion in market capitalization.

       On the Nasdaq 100, the largest gainer was Nvidia Corp, which rose 5.0% after major chip makers Broadcom Inc, Marvell and Taiwan-based MediaTek endorsed its $40 billion deal to buy UK chip designer Arm.

       With the S&P 500 up almost 14% as the first half of 2021 draws to a close, activity in some areas of the market indicates concern over potential volatility, with some investors suggesting the market may be overdue for a significant pullback.

       On the economic front, investor attention will be focused on consumer confidence data, a private jobs report and a crucial monthly employment report due later this week. Quarterly results from Micron Technology Inc and Walgreens Boots Alliance are also slated for this week.

       Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.38-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

       The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 31 new lows.

       Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.55 billion shares, compared with the 11.17 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

       - Reuters