GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian markets wary over stimulus, pandemic concerns

By Pete Schroeder
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Investors in Asia were set to push stocks
lower on Friday as concerns about U.S. stimulus and climbing
COVID-19 cases weighed globally on optimism.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures YAPcm1 were down 0.54% in
early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 were up
0.09%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI .HSIc1 were
up 0.44%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said negotiations
over a new COVID-19 relief package were making "a lot of
progress," although lawmakers in both parties said action could
take longer than originally hoped as sticking points remained
and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's staff
were skeptical compromises could be made. Attention on the stimulus package grew sharper after new
data showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for
jobless benefits jumped to a near three-month high, as spiking
COVID-19 cases weighed on economic activity. "U.S. policymakers are still trying to hammer out a
coronavirus relief package," wrote Joseph Capurso, a strategist
with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "The U.S. economy needs
fiscal relief because lockdowns continue to spread. The
lockdowns are closing businesses and preventing spending."
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
0.23%, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.13% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 0.54%.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was a
"strong possibility" the nation could split from the European
Union with a trade agreement. Sterling fell on the likelier
prospects of a no-deal Brexit. The euro rose after the European Central Bank announced more
stimulus measures to help steer the region out of a double-dip
recession. In the United States, strong demand for $24 billion in
30-year Treasury bonds on auction drove longer-dated yields down
and flattened the yield curve. The benchmark 10-year yield
US10YT=RR fell 3.3 basis points on Thursday to 0.908%.
Oil prices climbed nearly 3%, with Brent hitting levels not
seen since early March, on hopes of a speedier recovery thanks
to COVID-19 vaccines. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 2.8%, and U.S.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 rose 2.8%.
Investor optimism helped pushed down safe-haven gold, with
spot gold XAU= falling 0.4% and U.S. gold futures GCv1
settling down 0.1%.

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