*

Benchmark S&P 500 ends flat

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U.S. dollar rises

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Crude prices settle lower

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Bitcoin hits new record high

(Updates prices throughout with U.S. market close, adds oil and

gold settlement and fresh analyst comment)

By Chibuike Oguh and Amanda Cooper

NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Global shares edged

lower on Wednesday as markets weighed tensions between Russia

and the West, while bitcoin hit a new record high and the dollar

gained after three straight sessions of losses.

Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) were down 0.4% in after-market

trading after the artificial intelligence powerhouse forecast

fourth-quarter revenue that was largely in line with analyst

estimates. The stock of the world's most valuable company had

closed down 0.8% in regular hours trading on Wednesday.

Benchmark S&P 500 finished flat while the Dow gained and the

Nasdaq ended lower. Healthcare, energy and materials stocks were

the biggest gainers, while consumer discretionary, financials

and technology equities were the biggest drag.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.32% to

43,408.47, the S&P 500 was flat at 5,917.11 and the

Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11% to 18,966.14.

The MSCI All-World index was down 0.16% to

847.84. European shares finished down 0.02%.

"Nvidia ( NVDA ) is obviously a bellwether stock for the market and

it seems to be down a little bit after market, but it wasn't a

catastrophe by any stretch of the imagination," said James St.

Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management

in Santa Monica, California.

"The bar keeps getting raised and raised and raised. But

eventually it just becomes really difficult to exceed that bar.

And I think that's kind of where we're at with Nvidia ( NVDA )."

Safe-haven assets such as gold and government bonds got a

lift on Tuesday after news of Ukraine launching U.S.-made ATACMS

missiles into Russia, and with Russia announcing it had lowered

the threshold for nuclear action. Russian foreign minister

Sergei Lavrov, however, later downplayed the nuclear threat,

helping to calm markets.

Gold prices climbed for a third consecutive session to mark

a one-week high. Spot gold rose 0.69% to $2,649.89 an

ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 0.8% higher at

$2,651.70.

Investors are also watching President-elect Donald Trump's

pick for Treasury secretary, which may come as soon as

Wednesday.

Markets were realizing that some of Trump policies,

including tariffs and deportations, could be inflationary, said

Lukasz Tomicki, founding partner at LRT Capital in Austin,

Texas.

"There's been this belief that Trump's policies will be

inflationary and we've seen the spike in yields since his

election," Tomicki said.

The dollar index rose 0.54% to 106.68, snapping three

consecutive sessions of losses but still below one-year highs.

It has gained nearly 3% since the Nov. 5 U.S. general election.

The dollar was last up 0.48% against the yen at

155.40. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar was up

0.2% at 0.88410.

The Chinese yuan weakened against the greenback

after the central bank held benchmark lending rates steady, as

widely expected. In the offshore market, the yuan was down 0.22%

against the dollar at 7.251.

Bitcoin, which hit a fresh record high just shy of

$95,000, was up 2.53% at $94,579.01. The price has risen by well

over 30% since Trump's election, buoyed by expectations that he

will create a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment.

The gains in bitcoin have been aided by a Financial Times

report that Trump Media and Technology Group ( DJT ), which

operates Truth Social and is majority-owned by Trump, is close

to an all-stock acquisition of crypto trading firm Bakkt ( BKKT/WS )

.

Oil prices settled lower after U.S. crude and gasoline

stocks rose by more than expected last week. Brent crude

futures for January settled 0.68% at $72.81.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for December

expired on Wednesday, and settled down 0.75% at $68.87,

while the more active WTI contract for January settled

down 0.71% at $68.75.