GLOBAL MARKETS -World stocks whipsaw on pandemic worries, gold gains

By Koh Gui Qing and Carolyn Cohn
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. and European shares
whipsawed between modest gains and losses on Wednesday as
investors tried to brush aside market risks to focus on the
positive, but caution prevailed in the gold market with prices
jumping more than 1%.
Reports that some European countries have started to close
schools and cancel surgeries due to a resurgence in the COVID-19
pandemic weighed on sentiment, though European shares still
managed to trim earlier losses.
In the United States, investors looked to positive earnings
reports by investment bank Goldman Sachs Group GS.N and
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N , the largest U.S. health insurer,
and tried to shelve concerns over two stalled trials for
COVID-19 treatment and vaccine that rattled markets on Tuesday.
Investors are hoping that a quick development of a treatment
or vaccine for COVID-19 would end the pandemic and aid a
recovery in the world economy.
"Bulls are looking to get back on track this morning," Paul
Hickey, a co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group LLC, wrote in a
note, but added that an upbeat mood may not hold.
Major U.S. stock indices had given up early gains by 1426
GMT. The S&P 500 .SPX was largely flat at 3,512.90, and the
Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was also little changed at
28,655.36. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 30 points, or 0.3%,
to 11,832.32.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX narrowed losses and was
down 0.1%, while markets in Frankfurt .GDAXI and Paris .FCHI
were up 0.1% and flat respectively. London .FTSE , buffeted in
part by Brexit angst, dropped 0.6%. World stocks .MIWD00000PUS
were little changed but still within sight of an all-time high
struck on Sept. 3.
Moving beyond bar and pub closures, the Czech Republic
shifted schools to distance learning and hospitals started
cutting non-urgent medical procedures to free beds.
Moscow authorities said on Wednesday they would introduce
online learning for many students starting on Monday, while
Northern Ireland announced schools would close for two weeks.
Asian stocks also had a lackluster showing. MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
had tracked Wall Street's losses overnight to end a seven-day
rally.
The index was last down 0.11%, having toppled from a
two-and-a-half-year high of 588.76 touched on Tuesday. Chinese
shares .CSI300 closed down 0.7%.
Bolstered by uncertainty around the pandemic, the price of
gold XAU= , a safe-haven asset, climbed by more than 1% to a
high of $1,912.51 an ounce.
Government bonds also benefited from investor caution.
German bund yields DE10YT=RR , which move inversely to prices,
hit their lowest since May EUR/GVD , while the 10-year U.S.
Treasury yield dipped to 0.7173%.
The U.S. dollar softened after pulling its best day in three
weeks on Tuesday. Its index =USD against a basket of six major
currencies fell 0.3% to 93.25. That helped the euro EUR= to
firm slightly to $1.1768.
Concerns that fuel demand will continue to falter as rising
coronavirus cases across Europe and in the United States, the
world's biggest oil consumer, dragged on oil prices. Brent
LCOc1 and U.S. crude CLc1 pared earlier gains and were at
$43.19 and $40.99 a barrel, respectively. O/R
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