GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares fall on coronavirus drug, economic damage concerns

* Investors looking for medical response to coronavirus
* Oil prices extend tentative rebound
* U.S. business activity plumbs record lows

By Stanley White and Katanga Johnson
TOKYO/WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Asian shares and U.S.
stock futures fell on Friday, spurred by doubts about progress
in the development of drugs to treat COVID-19 and new evidence
of U.S. economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.4%. U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500
e-minis ESc1 , were down 0.72%.
Shares in China, where the coronavirus first emerged late
last year, fell 0.25%.
The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC turned negative at
the close on Thursday after a report that Gilead Sciences Inc 's
GILD.O antiviral drug remdesivier had failed to help severely
ill COVID-19 patients in its first clinical trial. Gilead said the findings were inconclusive because the study
conducted in China was terminated early.
The markets' sensitivity to news related to the medical
treatment of COVID-19 reflected investors' desperation for a
sign of when the global economy might start returning to normal,
Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at New York-based
wealth management firm Inverness Counsel.
"Any piece of bad news is likely to rattle the market,"
Ghriskey said. "Investors are keen for a semblance of hope that
they can soon crawl out of their homes and get on with some form
of normal life, even if with trepidation and fear."
U.S. business activity plumbed record lows in April,
mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as strict
stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and
consumer spending, a survey showed. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a $484
billion bill to expand federal loans to small businesses and
hospitals overwhelmed by patients. President Donald Trump, who
has indicated he will sign the bill, said late Thursday that he
may need to extend social distancing guidelines to early summer.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.23%.
In Japan, shares in the Nikkei stock index .N225 slid
0.86% amid lingering concern about the spread of infections
before the Golden Week public holidays.
Shares in South Korea .KS11 , which has won recognition for
its aggressive measures to contain the coronavirus, fell 0.76%.
Australian shares .AXJO bucked the trend, rising 0.4% due
to gains in the energy and resources sector.
Oil prices extended a tentative rebound from a price
collapse this week that pushed U.S. crude futures into negative
for the first time ever, but investors remain concerned about
weak energy demand and excess supplies of crude.
U.S. crude CLc1 ticked up 3.94% to $17.15 a barrel, while
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 3.09% to $21.99 per barrel in Asia as
some oil producers said they will bring forward output cuts.
O/R
The outlook remain remains dim because global energy demand
has evaporated due to business closures and travel restrictions
aimed at slowing the pandemic. In addition, some countries are
running out of space to store the crude oil that they are not
using.
The dollar headed for weekly gains against the Norwegian
crown NOK= , the Canadian dollar CAD= , and the Russian ruble
RUB= as investors chose to sell the currencies of major oil
producers and keep their funds in dollars.
Elsewhere in the currency markets, the euro EUR=EBS headed
for its second weekly decline against the dollar after the
European Union agreed on Thursday to set up a joint financial
fund of up to 2 trillion euros to help recover from the pandemic
but delayed a decision on the details of the programme until the
summer. The yen JPY=EBS was little changed at 107.60 against the
dollar. Japan's currency fell briefly after the Nikkei newspaper
reported that the Bank of Japan will consider unlimited
government bond purchases at a policy meeting next week Monday.
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