GLOBAL MARKETS-Global shares slip on pandemic surge, failing stimulus hopes

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

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Global shares slipped on Thursday
as investors locked in recent gains amid rising concerns about
resurgent COVID-19 infections and after U.S. Treasury Secretary
dashed any remaining hopes of a stimulus package before the Nov.
3 election.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS lost 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei .N225 dropped
0.5%.
U.S. S&P 500 futures ESc1 sagged 0.27% in Asia after major
U.S. stock indexes ended the previous session lower, with the
S&P 500 .SPX closing down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite Index
.IXIC shedding 0.8%.
Disappointing quarterly results from Bank of America BAC.N
and Wells Fargo WFC.N led the S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK
2.4% lower.
Concerns that a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic could
lead governments to again shut down economies spurred
profit-taking, particularly after the recent stock rally.
With COVID-19 cases surging, some European nations are
closing schools, cancelling surgery and enlisting student medics
as overwhelmed authorities braced for a repeat of the nightmare
scenario seen earlier this year. That helped push the German 10-year Bunds yield to as low as
minus 0.586% DE10YT=RR , a rate last seen in May.
Tensions between Beijing and Washington remain in view after
the U.S. State Department submitted a proposal for the Trump
administration to add China's Ant Group IPO-ANTG.HK to a trade
blacklist, according to two people familiar with the matter,
before the financial technology arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba
9988.HK is slated to go public. Downbeat comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin that a stimulus deal was unlikely be made before the
Nov. 3 vote also provided another excuse for profit-taking.
Still, many investors expect large stimulus after the
election, which Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is
increasingly expected to win.
Although Biden has been seen as more likely to raise taxes
on corporate profits and capital gains, investors are also
pointing to other potential benefits of a Biden presidency, such
as less global trade uncertainty.
"It smacks of opportunism when markets were saying just a
few months ago stocks would crash if Trump would lose and now
they say Biden victory would be good for stocks," said Norihiro
Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities. "What this suggests is that markets are
flush with cash after massive monetary easings by global central
banks."
In currencies, sterling was well-bid at $1.3017 GBP=D4 ,
having climbed 0.6% on Wednesday on hopes of progress in talks
between Britain and the European Union.
But some of the enthusiasm was lost after British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson told the head of the European Commission,
Ursula von der Leyen, that he was disappointed there had not
been more progress in the talks. The Australian dollar shed 0.5% to $0.7128 AUD=D4 after
the country's central bank stoked speculation of a near-term cut
in interest rates and more longer-dated government debt
purchases.
The need for further Australian stimulus was underlined by
data showing 29,500 jobs were lost in October while the
unemployment rate rose a tick to 6.9%. The euro moved little at $1.1725 EUR= while the dollar
changed hands at 105.20 yen JPY= .
Oil prices rose slightly in early trade on Thursday after
U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week, adding to 2% gains
overnight, as OPEC and its allies were seen fully complying in
September with their pact to curb output.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
picked up 0.1% to $41.07 a barrel while Brent crude LCOc1
futures rose 0.2% to $43.39 a barrel.