(Adds U.S. market open, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
* European, U.S. shares rise
* MSCI ex-Japan index hits highest since early 2018
* Split Congress seen lessening risk of regulation, tax increases
* BOE injects another 150 billion pounds into bond buying
* Pressure back on for Fed-led monetary stimulus
* Emerging market FX sees strong gains, yuan at 28-month high
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped and tech stocks rallied further on Thursday as Democrat Joe Biden drew closer to winning the U.S. presidency while the Bank of England became the latest central bank to say it will increase stimulus.
Biden appeared set to defeat Donald Trump as counting continued from Tuesday's election. The president's campaign said it expected to launch more legal action and would emerge victorious. leapt on the prospect of gridlock in Congress and the notion Silicon Valley will be spared greater oversight as the Democrats are unlikely to win control of the Senate.
Tech shares in Europe jumped almost 3% .SX8P .EU , extending a rally of more than 8% this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow industrials rose 1% or more.
European stocks hit two-week highs on strong earnings reports and after the Bank of England increased its already huge bond-buying stimulus by 150 billion pounds ($195 billion), or about 50 billion pounds more than expected. Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its latest policy statement at 2 p.m. and is expected to repeat its pledge to do whatever it can to help the U.S. economy recover from the COVID-19 recession.
"The big bad wolf of regulation and taxes is further away from the door and many who have de-risked into the event will be forced to re-risk," said Michele Pedroni, a fund manager at Decalia Asset Management in Geneva.
(For the latest election results and more coverage, click: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-election2020)
MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets .MIWD00000PUS rose 1.83% to 589.5, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 added 0.94% to 1,419.84.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 1.47%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.61% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 1.93%.
Overnight in Asia, stocks .MIAPJ0000PUS rallied 2% to reach their highest since February 2018. Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.7% to a more than nine-month top, South Korea .KS11 gained 2.4% and Chinese blue chips .CSI300 added 1.3% on hopes a Biden White House would ease up on tariffs.
The U.S. dollar fell to two-week lows against a basket of currencies and a seven-month low against the Japanese yen as the likelihood of a Democratic blue wave in the White House and Congress slowly vanished, snuffing any large U.S. stimulus package.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.6%, while MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets .MIWD00000PUS rose 1.83% to 589.5.
"The market's assuming that Biden wins the White House but that the Senate is not going to be in the Democrats' hands, so you don't have as big of a stimulus," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.
U.S. Treasury yields edged higher after earlier dropping from four-month highs as a large jump in near-term supply to fund stimulus became less likely, reducing the appeal of the debt and weighing on the dollar.
Weak economic growth is putting a damper on the ability to offer higher interest rates for government debt, which is weighing on the dollar, Chandler said.
The euro EUR= was up 0.63% toup 0.67% to $1.1796 and the yen JPY= strengthened 0.74% versus the greenback at 103.73 per dollar.
The yuan CNH= gained to a more than two-year high of 6.5994. The Chinese currency had been slammed by Sino-U.S. disputes since the outbreak of the bilateral trade war in 2018.
Gold surged as the dollar slipped, with spot prices XAU= rising 2.21% to $1,945.26 an ounce.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury US10YT=RR note rose 1.7 basis points to 0.7847%.
Italy's five-year bond yields fell below zero for the first time. EUR/GVD
EMERGING WINNERS
Oil prices dropped on Thursday as concerns grew about economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $0.57 to $40.66 a barrel. U.S. crude futures CLc1 slid $0.65 to $38.5 a barrel.
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https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 Asia-Pacific valuations
https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA World stocks market cap rise over last four years
https://tmsnrt.rs/2TL19hh Emerging winners
https://tmsnrt.rs/3eFqmU9
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