* Wall Street, world stock markets touch record highs
* Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective
* Crude, U.S. Treasury yields jump, gold slides
* Biden win boosts trade-sensitive currencies
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Updates to afternoon)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow followed world equity indexes to record levels and U.S. Treasury yields surged on Monday, as promising developments toward a coronavirus vaccine and the prospect of improved trade relations under President-elect Joe Biden gave a jolt to investor risk appetite.
Value stocks boosted all three major U.S. stock indexes to all-time highs and crude prices jumped more than 10%.
The indexes subsequently paired their gains, and the Nasdaq was last flat.
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N said its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O , was more than 90% effective in preventing infection, marking the first successful results from a large-scale clinical trial. are truly optimistic and there's not a whole lot of sellers out there," said Oliver Pursche, president of Bronson Meadows Capital Management in Fairfield, Connecticut. "This optimism is reflected in multiple asset classes - stocks, Treasury yields, oil prices are up sharply, and gold prices are down sharply.
"Last Friday we were talking about new shutdowns - tightening restrictions on restaurants and bars - and this represents a light at the end of the tunnel," Pursche added.
Global leaders welcomed the U.S. election results, congratulating President-elect Joe Biden even as incumbent Donald Trump refused to concede, vowing to challenge the result. CBOE Market Volatility index .VIX , a barometer of investor anxiety, dropped to its lowest level since late August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 1,260.16 points, or 4.45%, to 29,583.56, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 93.09 points, or 2.65%, to 3,602.53 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 1.21 points, or 0.01%, to 11,894.02.
Pfizer's announcement gave a jolt to European shares, sending them to an eight-month high, building on expectations of more stable trade policies in the wake of Biden's victory. pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 3.98% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 2.17%.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.37%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.96% higher, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 2.12%.
The vaccine news sent the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield soaring to its highest level since March, and the yield curve, an indication of risk appetite to its steepest since March, on optimism the world's largest economy would emerge from a pandemic-induced recession. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 41/32 in price to yield 0.9594%, from 0.82% late on Friday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR last fell 109/32 in price to yield 1.75%, from 1.598% late on Friday.
Oil prices surged and were on track for their biggest daily percentage gain in more than six months as the vaccine news and an OPEC output deal fueled optimism over rebounding demand. crude CLcv1 rose 8.48% to settle at $40.29 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was settled at $42.40, up 7.48% on the day.
The prospect of a Biden presidency buoyed trade-related currencies on expectations of a thawing of the tariff war as the dollar index rose from a 10-week low. dollar index .DXY rose 0.59%, with the euro EUR= down 0.35% to $1.1831.
The Japanese yen weakened 1.98% versus the greenback to 105.44 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3169, up 0.10% on the day.
Gold prices slumped as investors pivoted away from the safe-haven metal in favor of riskier assets. gold XAU= dropped 4.3% to $1,866.86 an ounce.