By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index set a record intraday high on Monday as last week's strong monthly U.S. jobs report worked its way into financial markets, and European shares rose as a single candidate emerged to succeed David Cameron as British prime minister.
The S&P 500 touched a record intraday high of 2,143.16 points to overtake the previous of 2,134.72 hit on May 20, 2015 as investors harbored greater optimism about the U.S. economy after last Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs report.
The gains in U.S. shares on Monday were broad based. Industrials <.SPLRCI> and consumer staples <.SPLRCS> also hit record highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose above 5,000 for the first time since December.
The STOXX Europe 600 <.STOXX> closed up 1.6 percent at 332.72, its highest close since Britain's vote to exit the European Union on June 23. Theresa May won the race to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister, reducing political uncertainty in the UK.
"You have Brexit and global stagnation, but underneath that we keep getting really good economic numbers and that is forcing the (stock) market to new highs," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management.
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The anticipation of stimulus measures also boosted stocks, while Japan's preparation for a new round of stimulus pushed Treasury yields higher.
U.S. Treasury yields rose on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's order for a fresh round of fiscal stimulus, which contributed to the boost in risky assets such as stocks and reduced demand for safe-haven U.S. bonds, and as investors braced for $56 billion in new coupon-bearing supply this week.
U.S. 30-year yields were last at 2.149 percent after hitting a record low of 2.089 percent in overnight trading. Benchmark 10-year yields were last at 1.434 percent, from a yield of 1.365 percent late Friday.
MSCI's all-country world equity index was up 1.08 percent at 405.34.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 115.84 points, or 0.64 percent, at 18,262.58. The S&P 500 was up 11.91 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,141.81. The Nasdaq Composite was up 42.90 points, or 0.87 percent, at 4,999.66.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 1.5 percent higher at 1,315.49.
Benchmark Brent crude and U.S. crude prices hit two-month lows of $45.90 a barrel and $44.53 a barrel, respectively, pressured by rising Canadian supplies, a higher U.S. oil rig count and cuts in bullish hedge fund bets on crude.
U.S. crude settled down 65 cents at $44.76 per barrel, while Brent crude settled 51 cents lower at $46.25 a barrel.
The dollar rose to a 10-day high against the safe-haven yen of 102.87 yen on Monday, climbing more than 2 percent, following Abe's call for new stimulus.
"It looked like part of what held the BOJ back several times earlier this year is it just didn't make sense to expand (quantitative easing) if there's no coordination with fiscal policy," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York. "But now there is."
(Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Dion Rabouin and Karen Brettell in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)