GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks seesaw, yields fall on dire economic outlook

* Economic indicators point to deep recession
* Weekly U.S. jobless claims top 5.2 million
* Oil stuck near 18-year low

By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - World stock markets
seesawed while bond yields retreated on Thursday as dire U.S.
jobless data underscored a deepening downturn amid the
coronavirus pandemic and tamped down investor hopes a listless
economy would soon be back on its feet.
A record 22 million Americans sought unemployment benefits
over the past month, with millions more filing claims last week
in an early sign of how deep the economic slump caused by the
pandemic will be. President Donald Trump plans to announce new guidelines to
reopen the U.S. economy after a monthlong shutdown, joining a
growing chorus of leaders around the world clamoring to reignite
their economies.
The dollar hit a one-week high, gold rose slightly and U.S.
Treasury yields fell for a third session as investors fled to
safe-haven assets.
Investors are grappling with whether to be optimistic for
when economies pull out of recession or to wait for a vaccine
for the novel coronavirus and clear signs growth has fully
recovered, said Anthony Saglimbene, global market strategist at
Ameriprise.
"The stock market is forward looking and has discounted a
lot of some of the really bad economic and earnings numbers that
we're going to get for Q1 and Q2," Saglimbene said.
"It's really about when we do reopen, what's that curve look
like? Is it a 'V,' is it a 'U' or is it a 'W'? Our view is that
it's going to be slow recovery," he said.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.49% and its emerging market stock index lost 0.52%.
On Wall Street, stocks were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell 237.1 points, or 1.01%, to 23,267.25. The
S&P 500 .SPX lost 11.93 points, or 0.43%, to 2,771.43 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 28.52 points, or 0.34%, to
8,421.69.
European shares rebounded, with the pan-European STOXX 600
index .STOXX up 0.58%.
Oil prices slid, with official data showing U.S. inventories
surging to the most on record. Investors had hoped that a
build-up in U.S. inventories may mean producers have little
option but to cut output as the coronavirus pandemic ravages
demand.
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 0.1% to $19.89 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was at $27.31, down 1.37% on the day.
Speculation mounted that the European Central Bank was
looking to prevent further stress in the region's debt markets
where debt-to-GDP now looks set to top 150% this year. /FRX
GVD/EUR
"We have had this big wave of big announcements by
governments and central banks and now we need to get into the
nitty gritty of how it all works," said AXA Investment Managers
chief economist Gilles Moec.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.578%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.75% to $1.0825. The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.22%
versus the greenback at 107.74 per dollar,
Policymakers are starting to allow stringent lockdowns to
ease, and firms are looking to restart as well. Germany is
proposing reopening schools and some retailers starting May 4.
German carmakers Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE and Mercedes-Benz
DAIGn.DE will restart production at some German factories next
week and in other countries a week later. Investment bank Morgan Stanley MS.N underscored the damage
too as it posted a 32% fall in its quarterly profit on Thursday.
Asia had a more difficult session overnight. Tokyo's Nikkei
dropped 1.3% and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS lost almost 1%, wiping out early
week gains that had taken it to a one-month high. >T
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 fell to a
one-week low and commodity prices had struggled to rise against
the expectation of cratering demand. MET/L