GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks firm near record after easing U.S. inflation fears lift Wall Street – Investing.com India

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks firm near record after easing U.S. inflation fears lift Wall Street – Investing.com India

* Dovish Powell, weak jobs data quell inflation jitters* S&P 500 jumps to record high as U.S. yields retreat* China shares slide as price data spur tightening worries* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4By Kevin BucklandApril 9 (Reuters) - Global stocks held firm near record highs on Friday as receding inflation fears in the United States pushed down bond yields and lifted Wall Street, though softness in Chinese shares capped gains in Asia.MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks set a record high earlier in the Asian session and last stood almost flat.Japan's Topix gained 0.6% and Australian stocks hovered near a more than one-year top, while South Korea's Kospi touched the highest intraday level since mid-February.Chinese shares were an outlier, with the CSI 300 sliding 1.5%, pushing down MSCI's ex-Japan Asia index by 0.6%, as robust domestic inflation data raised worries over policy tightening.Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields held close to Thursday's two-week trough near 1.6%, which had lifted U.S. tech shares and powered the S&P 500 to a record close.Yields had surged to the highest since January of last year at 1.776% at the end of March as a string of strong U.S. economic data