* MSCI ACWI near record peak hit in late January
* Brisk earnings, U.S. stimulus, strong data boost sentiment
* Bond yields higher on rising inflation expectations
* Dollar, pound, shekel favoured on progress in vaccination
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - - Global shares closed in on their record peak on Friday, with Asian shares taking their lead from Wall Street, as progress in vaccine distribution prompted bets on further normalisation in the global economy and earnings recovery.
MSCI's gauge of Asian shares outside Japan rose 0.4% while Japan's Nikkei rallied 1%.
An index of the world's major 50 markets, MSCI ACWI , extended its gains into a fifth straight day to come within reach of a record high touched about two weeks ago.
On Wall Street, each of major indexes rose more than 1% on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 setting record highs.
"What's driving the market is corporate earnings are posting a strong recovery," said Jumpei Tanaka, strategist at Pictet.
"And there are piles of money saved in MMF (money market funds) and elsewhere that are likely to be invested in stocks once the economy normalises as vaccination programmes progress."
Expectations of a large stimulus by the Biden administration also supported risk sentiment while better-than-expected data on U.S. job markets published in the past two days is fanning a bullish mood on the upcoming payroll report due later in the day.
Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields rose in anticipation of a large pandemic relief bill from Washington as well as on heightening inflation expectations.
The benchmark 10-year yield stood at 1.136%, having risen to a three-week high of 1.162% the previous day while the 30-year bonds yielded 1.929%, near its 10 1/2-month high of 1.951% touched on Thursday.
Bond yields rose in Europe as well, with Germany's 30-year government bond yield climbing back in positive territory for the first time since September.
A market gauge of future U.S. inflation was at its highest since October 2018 while that for the euro zone hit its highest since May 2019.
In the currency market, the dollar strengthened against most of its peers as traders' focus appeared to shift to the relative strength of the U.S. growth.
Until recent weeks, the dollar had been sold on expectations that global economic recovery will promote outflows of funds to riskier currencies from the safe-haven dollar.
The U.S. dollar index stood near a two-month high, having risen 1.1% so far this week, on course for its biggest weekly increase since October.