GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks dip, oil rebounds: 'The mood is fairly fragile'

By David Randall
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Global equities dipped and
the dollar inched to a four-month high Wednesday as concerns
about extended economic lockdowns in Europe and the potential
for higher taxes in the United States weighed on investor
sentiment.
European shares hovered near two-week lows, while oil prices
bounced back from steep losses Tuesday after a ship ran aground
in the Suez Canal, though traffic was expected to resume soon.

"The mood is fairly fragile as all the optimism that
characterised the push higher over the past two or three weeks
in shares is starting to bleed away on talk of a European third
wave and extensions of pandemic lockdowns in Germany and
France," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC
Markets.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.19% following steep declines in Asia and modest losses in
Europe.
In morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI rose 187.54 points, or 0.58%, to 32,610.69, the
S&P 500 .SPX gained 17.15 points, or 0.44%, to 3,927.67 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 32.25 points, or 0.24%, to
13,259.95.
The Ifo Institute said Germany's extended lockdown is
delaying recovery. It cut its 2021 growth forecast for Europe's
biggest economy to 3.7% from 4.2% previously.
The IHS Markit euro zone flash composite purchasing
management index rose to 52.5 in March from 48.8 in February in
a surprise return to growth this month, as factories ramped up
production at its fastest pace in over 23 years.
But the April numbers could be hit by the gathering pace of
COVID infections across Europe. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 3/32 in price
to yield 1.6471%, up from 1.638% late on Tuesday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday the
American economy remains in crisis from the pandemic as she
defended developing plans for future tax increases to pay for
new public investments.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told U.S. lawmakers that
a coming round of post-pandemic price increases will not fuel a
destructive breakout of persistent inflation. He meets with U.S.
lawmakers again on Wednesday. The dollar index =USD rose 0.181%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.28% to $1.1816.
"We are definitely in that mode of a potential further
reduction in risk, which would be supportive for the dollar,"
said Derek Halpenny, head of research for global markets at
MUFG.
"If you were to pick a top concern, then it would be the
COVID situation, with new cases in emerging markets back to
record highs and what's happening in Europe. It does not tally
with global optimism for synchronised global growth," Halpenny
added.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP gained nearly 5% as Tesla Inc TSLA.O
chief Elon Musk said the company's electric vehicles can now be
bought using bitcoin. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 3.27% to $59.65 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was at $62.67, up 3.09% on the day
Spot gold XAU= added 0.2% to $1,730.20 an ounce.

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