GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares poised to follow Wall Street's rocky lead

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Chris Prentice
April 7 (Reuters) - Asian stock futures were under pressure
on Wednesday after a late, sharp sell-off on Wall Street and as
oil prices slumped under pressure from swelling global supplies.
Hong Kong futures HSIc1 were down following two days of
gains. Australian shares were expected to open lower as warnings
of an economic slump and a spike in unemployment due to the
coronavirus pandemic dampened sentiment. Nikkei futures NKc1 were down 0.37% at 2319 GMT. The
Nikkei 225 index .N225 closed up 4.24% at 18,576.3​ on Tuesday
as the Japanese government promised a near-$1 trillion stimulus
package - equal to a fifth of its gross domestic product - to
address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.27 points, or 0.16%, to 2,659.41,
closing near its session lows and giving up an earlier gain of
as much as 3.5% on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
25.98 points, or 0.33%, to 7,887.26 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell 26.13 points, or 0.12%, to 22,653.86.
After U.S. stock markets closed, President Donald Trump said
the United States may be getting to the top of the coronavirus
curve. The Trump administration asked Congress for an additional
$250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses
reeling from the pandemic. New York state, the U.S. epicenter of COVID-19, is nearing a
plateau in the number of patients hospitalized, Governor Andrew
Cuomo said, a hopeful sign even as deaths in his state and
neighboring New Jersey hit single-day highs. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.3 million
people and killed over 76,000 globally, the latest figures
compiled by Reuters show. Though the numbers are still rising in
many highly populated countries, tentative improvements have
given hope.
"While the virus' 'curve is flattening', the economic
effects of the corona crisis will linger for years in our view,"
Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Joseph Capurso said in
a morning note.
"Economies will take time to re-open, some businesses will
not re-open, and unemployment will take years to return to
levels reported at the end of 2019."
Oil prices LCOc1 also gave up early gains to fall sharply
as weekly data showed a crude glut grew more than expected.
Hopes the world's biggest producers would agree to cut output
were overtaken by anxiety that a deal would not emerge.
Gold prices XAU= retreated after touching a 3-1/2-week
high, in response to a stabilization in Asian and European
equities trade.
Demand for gold, seen as a store of value, has jumped in
recent weeks as governments around the world roll out stimulus
packages that effectively dilute their currencies. Debt trading conditions remain challenging but some measures
of liquidity in the $17 trillion U.S. Treasury market are almost
back to normal, thanks to the Federal Reserve's giant purchases.
Without the Fed's intervention, analysts have been concerned
that liquidity would rupture and market volatility would spike
again. The Fed has bought more than $1 trillion in Treasuries
over the last three weeks, helping calm markets. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html
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