GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares struggle to shake off U.S. selloff amid coronavirus comeback

By Pete Schroeder
Oct 27 (Reuters) - Asian markets look set to continue a
downward path on Tuesday after soaring global coronavirus cases
and shrinking hopes for a U.S. stimulus deal took a toll on Wall
Street and drove up the U.S. dollar.
Australia's ASX 200 .AXJO opened down about 0.6%, while
Japan's Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 were up 0.04%. The Nikkei 225
index .N225 closed down 0.09% on Monday. The futures contract
was down 0.25% from that close​.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI .HSIc1 were up
0.1%.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS was
down 1.52%.
U.S. indices fell sharply to open the week's trading, as
anxiety over new record daily COVID-19 cases in the United
States, Russia and France weighed on investor appetite.
And while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still hopeful an
agreement can be reached on a coronavirus relief bill before the
Nov. 3 elections, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told
reporters on Monday that talks have slowed. "The challenge for markets is that in most cases they are
already pricing a very strong economic bounce. The new
outbreaks, and the potential for a double-dip recession,
directly contradict this assumption," Michael McCarthy, chief
market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.
The sharp decline set a bleak tone ahead of a busy
third-quarter earnings season, with large U.S. tech firms like
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Google-parent
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O set to report. Microsoft Corp MSFT.O
reports its results Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 650.19 points,
or 2.29%. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 64.42 points, or 1.86%, while
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 189.35 points, or 1.64%.
Renewed coronavirus fears drove investors into a host of
safe-haven investments and away from riskier assets, including
in the oil market. Brent LCOc1 dropped $1.31, or 3.1%, while
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell $1.29, or 3.2%. Both
contracts fell almost 2.5% last week. Investors shedding risk gave way to a rise in the safe-haven
U.S. dollar compared to other currencies. The dollar index
=USD rose 0.286%, with the euro EUR= down 0.45% to $1.1806.
Spot gold XAU= added 0.1% to $1,902.02 an ounce.
Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields also fell, with the
benchmark 10-year US10YT=RR yield down 4.3 basis points in
afternoon trading at 0.7977%, well below its four-month high
reached on Friday.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>