GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares fall on fresh rout in crude prices

* End in sight for some lockdowns
* Oil suffers as USO ETF sells front-month futures
* Markets eye Fed, ECB meetings this week

By Stanley White and Chibuike Oguh
TOKYO/NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - Asian shares and U.S.
stock futures dipped into the red on Tuesday, erasing earlier
gains as a renewed decline in oil prices overshadowed optimism
about the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions seen
globally.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.3%. Shares in China .CSI300 fell
0.7% and South Korean shares .KS11 fell 0.22%.
Oil futures slumped after the largest U.S. oil
exchange-traded fund said it would sell all its front-month
crude contracts to avoid further losses as prices collapse.
Some investors are hoping the worst may be over for the
world economy as more countries allow businesses to re-open, but
others see reasons to remain cautious, especially as a
coronavirus vaccine has yet to be developed.
"We are less optimistic and expect a slower recovery in the
world economy," Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a
research note.
"The risk of reintroducing restrictions is a risk to market
participants' optimistic outlook for a quick resumption of
normal economic activity."
All three major U.S. stock averages advanced on Monday and
are all now within 20% of their record closing highs reached in
February.
The benchmark S&P 500 is on track for its best month since
1987, after trillions of stimulus dollars helped U.S. equities
claw back much of the ground lost since the coronavirus crisis
brought the economy to a grinding halt.
But some analysts believe gains may be limited unless there
is progress in finding treatments for the disease. From Italy to New Zealand, governments announced the easing
of restrictions, while Britain said it was too early to relax
them there. New York state is not expected to reopen for weeks.
Oil prices weakened again on persistent concerns about
oversupply and a lack of storage space. The front-month contract
was trading at lower-than-usual volumes on Monday as traders
moved to later months in futures contracts.
U.S. crude CLc1 skidded 14.24% to $10.96 a barrel while
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 4.05% to $19.18 per barrel.
Shares of United States Oil Fund LP USO.P , the country's
largest crude ETF, fell more than 16% on Monday, after it said
it would sell all of its front-month crude contracts to avoid a
repeat of the heavy losses suffered last week. The U.S. dollar and the euro were little changed as traders
refrained from taking big positions before a Federal Reserve
policy decision due on Wednesday and a European Central Bank
(ECB) meeting Thursday.
The Fed has already announced a raft of measures to lessen
the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and is expected
to stay on hold this week.
The ECB is likely to extend its debt purchases to include
junk bonds and provide a backstop for corporate financing.
Major central banks have responded to the economic slump
caused by the coronavirus by slashing interest rates, buying
more government debt, and taking steps to increase lending to
small companies.
Elsewhere in currencies, the Australian dollar AUD=D3
traded near a six-week high of $0.6472 as investors continued to
cheer the country's progress in containing the coronavirus.
Gold, a safe-haven often bought during times of uncertainty,
fell for a third consecutive trading session in signs of
improving risk appetite.

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