GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares fragile amid China worries, oil sinks

* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Eyes on China stocks after Wall St bounces
* Coronavirus death toll continues to rise
* Oil leads commodity slide on fears for China demand

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A fragile calm gripped Asian
shares on Tuesday as investors waited anxiously to see if
Beijing could stem the rout in Chinese assets, while oil hit
13-month lows as the coronavirus throttled demand in the world's
biggest importer of fuel.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures crashed to $54.11 a barrel,
bringing losses for the year so far to 18%, while U.S. crude
CLc1 sank to $49.99. O/R
China's central bank has flooded the economy with cash while
trimming some key lending rates, but analysts suspect more will
have to be done to offset the economic fallout from the virus.
The total number of virus deaths in China reached 425 as of
Monday, from 20,438 cases. "Given the extent of the shutdowns in China as well as the
rapid rise in the virus that is likely to continue through March
or April, a significant hit to China and regional growth is very
likely," said JPMorgan economist Joseph Lupton.
"We would assume that in addition to bridging any funding
stresses, fiscal policies will need to be ramped up to support
growth once the contagion gets under control."
Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 slid almost 8% on Monday as
markets resumed from the Lunar New Year holiday.
A swath of commodities from copper to iron ore joined oil in
the dumpster amid fears the drag on Chinese industry and travel
would sharply curb demand for fuel and resources.
Early Tuesday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS had inched up 0.1%, led by gains
in South Korea .KS11 and Australia .AXJO . Japan's Nikkei
.N225 pared opening losses to be off 0.2%.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were flat after
results from Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O disappointed, though that
followed a 0.7% bounce overnight. Wall Street had taken comfort in a surprisingly solid
reading of U.S. manufacturing and the Dow .DJI ended Monday
with a rise of 0.51%, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.73% and
the Nasdaq .IXIC 1.34%.
Factory activity rebounded in January after contracting for
five straight months amid a surge in new orders. The ISM index rose to 50.9, the highest since July, from an
upwardly revised 47.8, though the survey was taken before the
virus spread in earnest.
The upbeat report nudged Treasury yields up from deep lows
and gave the U.S. dollar a modest lift.
The dollar firmed to 108.68 yen JPY= , from an overnight
low of 108.30, while the euro faded a fraction to $1.1059 EUR=
but remained well within recent snug ranges.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar bounced back to
97.837 .DXY from a trough of 97.406.
Sterling was nursing a grudge at $1.2990 GBP= having shed
1.6% overnight when the UK government laid out a tough opening
stance for future trade talks with the European Union following
its departure from the bloc last week. GBP/
The fall erased all the gains made after the Bank of
England's decision last week to keep interest rates on hold.
Spot gold was off at $1,577.48 per ounce XAU= , from a top
of $1.591.46, as the dollar firmed and safe haven demand waned a
little. GOL/

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(Editing by Sam Holmes)