GLOBAL MARKETS-Stock indexes gain with US technology shares; silver jumps

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Stock indexes rose with U.S. technology shares on Monday and silver also jumped, as investors went for bargains in markets beaten down last week.

Earlier, stocks in Japan rose to record highs following the resounding election win of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The yen strengthened following the victory as well, reversing six consecutive days of losses.

British stocks and bonds had come under pressure as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced calls to quit from his party's leader in Scotland after two key aides resigned in as many days. London's FTSE 100 .FTSE stock index erased earlier falls and was last higher.

Technology shares .SPLRCT led gains on Wall Street and the Nasdaq was up the most of the three major U.S. indexes. Software names in particular were pressured the previous week by concerns that artificial intelligence could intensify competition and squeeze margins.

"On the stocks front, it seems to be the traditional buy-the-dip by retail investors," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

Investors awaited economic data this week that could shed light on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path. The January nonfarm payrolls report is due on Wednesday, and January consumer price index is due on Friday. Traders are now pricing in the year's first rate cut in June, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 31.97 points, or 0.07%, to 50,149.46, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 40.27 points, or 0.58%, to 6,972.60 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 234.24 points, or 1.02%, to 23,266.32.

The Dow surged on Friday to close above the 50,000 level for the first time.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 11.99 points, or 1.15%, to 1,054.81. The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index rose 0.7%.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 headlined the gains with a rise of 3.9%, hitting all-time highs as a decisive majority for the ruling LDP party cleared the way for more spending and tax cuts.

The prospect of more borrowing pushed two-year Japanese government bond yields up to their highest since 1996 at 1.3% JP2YTN=JBTC.

The yen strengthened across the board, but most notably against the dollar, which had recovered almost all of a steep slide against the Japanese currency in late January.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.8% to 96.83, with the euro EUR= up 0.85% at $1.1917. Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 0.91% to 155.77.

Britain's 10-year gilt yield GB10YT=RR touched 4.6% earlier, while 30-year gilt yields briefly hit their highest since November GB30YT=RR.

U.S. Treasury yields edged lower, easing from earlier gains, ahead of the major economic data releases this week.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 0.4 basis points to 4.202%, from 4.206% late on Friday.

In the metals market, spot silver XAG= climbed 6.3% to $82.86 per ounce after largely struggling last week. It hit an all-time high of $121.64 on January 29. Gold prices also rose.

Oil gained after the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an advisory to U.S.-flagged vessels to stay as far as possible from Iranian territory while passing through the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

U.S. crude CLc1 rose 81 cents to settle at $64.36 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 gained 99c to settle at $69.04.