GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares falter again, poised for first weekly loss since late-Sept

* MSCI ex-Japan down for third day in a row
* MSCI ex-Japan set for 1st weekly loss since late-Sept
* Eyes on U.S. presidential election, rising COVID cases

By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A gauge of Asian shares fell for
a third straight session on Friday as jitters over upcoming U.S.
presidential elections and fears that the global economic
downturn will persist enveloped markets, though the index was
still set to end the month higher.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was last down 0.3%, on track to the end
the week 1.3% lower after four straight weeks of gains.
The index is up 3.7% in October so far. Analysts expect this
broader outperformance to extend further.
"For a crisis of this scale, Asian equities have performed
remarkably well," Citi analysts wrote in a note.
"Within the region, markets with a higher weighting of
technology stocks or where the recovery has become more
entrenched have outperformed," they added. "This solid
performance can continue, in our view. Valuations are reasonable
for an early stage of a recovery while liquidity is generous.
There has also been a perceptible drop in volatility in recent
months."
The mood on Friday was less positive, though. Australia's
ASX 200 .AXJO fell 0.2% and New Zealand's benchmark index
faltered 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.8% as did South
Korea's KOSPI index .KS11 .
Chinese shares were marginally higher, with the blue-chip
index .CSI300 up 0.07%.
E-Mini futures for S&P500 ESc1 stumbled 0.9% in early
Asian trading, a signal Wall Street would open in the red later
in the day.
Record numbers of coronavirus cases worldwide and the Nov. 3
U.S. presidential election remained the major factors looming
ahead for investors. On Wednesday, global coronavirus cases rose
by over 500,000 for the first time as France and Germany prepped
fresh lockdowns. The falls in Asia occurred despite a solid session on Wall
Street overnight, which was helped by a diet of strong quarterly
reports from tech giants and data showing the U.S. economy grew
at a historic annualised pace of 33.1% in the third quarter.

Google parent Alphabet GOOGL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O ,
Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O all beat analyst
estimates for quarterly revenue, with Amazon reporting a second
straight quarter of record profits. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed up 0.52%. The
S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.19% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
added 1.64%. "Even with the rebound, U.S. output remains 3.5% below its
pre-COVID levels. The path towards recovery is much less clear
from here, especially as the number of virus cases grows and
there are near-term impediments to a fiscal deal," wrote ANZ
analysts in a note.
The European Central Bank committed to further action in
December to further lend economic support as European nations
grappled with a renewed coronavirus outbreak.
Analysts expect an expansion and extension of the ECB's
Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, a lower deposit facility
rate, and even more generous lending terms for banks in
December.
The announcement sent the euro EUR= sliding to a four-week
low of $0.1648 to be last at $1.1678. The dollar was weaker against the Japanese yen JPY= at
104.46 while the risk-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 rose
0.3% to $0.7050. FRX/ AUD/
In commodities, oil picked up after hitting a five-month low
on Thursday, with Brent crude futures LCOc1 up 9 cents at
$37.74 a barrel and U.S. crude CLc1 adding 11 cents at $36.28.
Gold rose, with spot prices climbing 0.2% to $1,870.9 an
ounce.

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