GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares push higher as more countries ease lockdowns

* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Nikkei up 1.6% after Wall Street rally
* More countries ease lockdowns despite new infections
* Treasury yields edge up ahead of Fed chair speech

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - Asian shares followed Wall Street
higher on Monday as investors looked ahead to more countries
restarting their economies, even as some reported an unwelcome
pick up in new coronavirus cases.
South Korea warned of a second wave of the new coronavirus
as infections rebounded to a one-month high, while new
infections accelerated in Germany. Yet millions of French people are set to cautiously emerge
from one of Europe's strictest lockdowns on Monday, as countries
across Europe ease restrictions. Investors seemed determined to stay optimistic and MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS firmed 1.1%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 1.6% and Chinese blue chips
.CSI300 0.7%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 opened
soft but bounced as the morning wore on and was last up 0.5%.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 gained 0.8% and FTSE futures
FFIc1 0.7%.
Wall Street had rallied on Friday after the April payrolls
report proved dire but not quite as awful as analysts' worst
fears. "Just getting the worst jobs report in history out, is at
the margins helpful for risky assets," said Alan Ruskin, head of
G10 FX at Deutsche Bank.
"Since late March there has been an extraordinary divergence
between the real economy and financial risk, with the latter
helped by unprecedented policy accommodation," he added.
"Markets know the real economy data is awful. We are less
sure of how long markets aided by policy, can defy the real
economy, if the growth improvement is slow."
The bond market certainly seems to think any recovery will
be slow with two-year yields US2YT=RR hitting record lows at
0.105% and Fed fund futures 0#FF: turning negative for the
first time ever. US/
The rally in prices has come even as the U.S. Treasury plans
to borrow trillions of dollars in the next few months to plug a
gaping budget deficit.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to give a key
note speech on Wednesday and analysts suspect he will rule out
taking rates negative, at least for now.
The decline in U.S. yields might have been a burden for the
dollar but with rates everywhere near or less than zero, major
currencies have been stuck in tight ranges.
The dollar was a shade firmer on the yen at 106.94 JPY= on
Monday but well within the 105.97 to 109.37 band that has lasted
since late March. The euro was a fraction softer at $1.0830
EUR= but above last week's low at $1.0765.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was idling at
99.837 =USD , sandwiched between support at 98.769 and
resistance around 100.40.
In commodity markets, gold edged up 0.5% to $1,708 an ounce
XAU= . GOL/
Oil prices opened about 1% lower as a persistent glut
weighed on prices and the coronavirus pandemic eroded global oil
demand, even as some governments began to ease lockdowns. O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 futures lost 54 cents to $30.43 a
barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 fell 53 cents to $24.21.

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(Editing by Sam Holmes & Shri Navaratnam)