GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks drop as virus cases rise; gold rallies

* U.S. stocks end down sharply
* Gold prices rally
* Oil settles lower

(Updates to U.S. market close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped more than 1%
on Monday, pulling back from record highs in the first trading
day of the new year as coronavirus cases surged, while the U.S.
dollar edged up and gold rallied.
Stocks hit record highs early in the New York session as
investors focused on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. But
sentiment quickly turned cautious over the path of the virus,
which continues to spread amid the discovery of a new variant.
The outcome of runoff elections on Tuesday in Georgia for
two U.S. Senate seats added to the nervousness. "Investors are feeling a bit nervous on the first trading
day of the new year, and I think this is a confluence of
factors," said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally
Invest, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
MSCI's All-Country World Index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
stocks across 49 countries, was down 0.5% after earlier hitting
a record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 382.59 points,
or 1.25%, to 30,223.89, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 55.42 points, or
1.48%, to 3,700.65 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
189.84 points, or 1.47%, to 12,698.45.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.67%, while
Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE closed up 1.7% on its first
post-Brexit trading day.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered England into a
new national lockdown to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases that
threatens to overwhelm parts of the health system, while New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo said his state has found its first
case of the more contagious, "UK" strain of the coronavirus,
raising concerns about threats to hospital capacity.
Britain began vaccinating its population on Monday with the
COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca
AZN.L . With the lag between a full vaccine rollout and a global
economic recovery, investors will count on central banks to keep
money cheap.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's Dec. 15-16 policy meeting
are due on Wednesday and should offer more details on
discussions about making the U.S. central bank's forward policy
guidance more explicit and the chance of a further increase in
asset purchases this year.
Friday brings the U.S. employment report for December.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar recovered after falling
to its lowest level since April 2018.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.149%, with the euro EUR= up
0.92% to $1.2249.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.06% versus the greenback to
103.14 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at
$1.3564, down 0.78% on the day.
Spot gold prices XAU= gained 2.3%, while U.S. crude oil
futures CLc1 fell 1.9% to settle at $47.62 a barrel and Brent
futures LCOc1 dropped 1.4% to $51.09.
Oil prices slipped after OPEC+ failed to decide whether to
increase output in February and agreed to meet again on Tuesday.
U.S. Treasury yields retreated from early gains as stock
indexes tumbled.
U.S. Treasury yields edged higher as traders repositioned at
the start of trading in the new year. The benchmark 10-year
yield US10YT=RR was last up less than a basis point at
0.9165%. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
World stocks vs virus https://tmsnrt.rs/3b64h15
2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
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