* U.S. stimulus bill clears Senate
* U.S. jobs claims due at 1230 GMT, unemployment spike
feared
* Euro STOXX falls 1.6%
* German, British economic data paints grim picture
* Asia markets patchy: Nikkei down, ASX up
* Yen firms as risk sentiment finely balanced
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
(Releads, updates prices throughout, adds comment)
By Tom Wilson and Tom Westbrook
LONDON/SINGAPORE, March 26 (Reuters) - World share markets
fell on Thursday as nerves over jobs data likely to lay bare the
economic carnage from the coronavirus pandemic outweighed a $2
trillion U.S. stimulus package.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday backed the massive bill aimed
at helping jobless workers and industries reeling from the
virus, with the package heading for the House of Representatives
for vote on Friday. Yet already questions flew over whether the bill would do
enough to soften the disease's economic hammer blow, with
investors bracing for jobs data forecast to show a huge spike in
unemployment in the world's biggest economy.
Europe's broad Euro STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 1.6%, with
bourses in Frankfurt .GDAXI , London .FTSE and Paris .FCHI
all down around 2% as a two-day rally faltered.
The sour mood was worsened by slumping consumer morale in
Germany and data showing stagnant retail sales in Britain last
month, even before the virus hit. It followed a mixed session in Asia, where MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose
0.7% but regional performances varied.
The Nikkei .N225 snapped three days of gains with a 4%
drop, while Australia's benchmark .AXJO rose for a third day -
its longest winning streak in six weeks.
Global markets have lost about a quarter of their value in
the last six weeks of virus-driven selling.
And while investors have found a measure of support as
governments and central banks launch unprecedented support
measures, investors were struggling to work out how bad the
coronavirus impact would be.
"No-one is sure how long things are going to be locked down
for, how wide the virus will spread in the U.S., what the death
toll and hit on the economy will look like," said Salman Baig,
portfolio manager at Unigestion in Geneva.
UNEMPLOYMENT TO SURGE
Markets were to get a glimpse of the on-the-ground damage to
the U.S. economy, with data on jobless claims due at 1230 GMT.
Forecasts in a Reuters poll ranged from 250,000 to 4 million
unemployment claims. RBC Capital Markets economists had expected a national
figure over 1 million, but say "it is now poised to be many
multiples of that," as lockdowns drive deep layoffs.
"Something in the 5-10 million range for initial jobless
claims is quite likely," they wrote in a note.
That compares to a 695,000 peak in 1982.
Citi Private Bank said the peak total could reach 15-18% of
the total U.S. workforce, some 25 million people.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 last traded down 2%,
while the MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 countries, fell 0.2%.
The money at stake in the stimulus bill amounts to nearly
half of the $4.7 trillion the U.S. government spends annually.
But it comes against a backdrop of bad news as coronavirus
spreads and signs of economic damage grow across the globe.
Tokyo's governor asked residents to avoid going out and to
"act with a sense of crisis". Spain's coronavirus death toll has
overtaken China's, with more than 21,000 people deaths globally.
In Singapore, the economy suffered its biggest contraction
in a decade in the first quarter and factories posted their
largest output drop since records began in 1983.
The sense of unease was also reflected in currency markets.
The dollar lost 0.4% against a basket of six major
currencies =USD to 100.50 as its recent rally continued to
lose steam. It also slumped 0.8% against the perceived safety of
the Japanese yen JPY= .
The softer greenback also buoyed emerging market currencies,
with MSCI's index .MIEM00000CUS touching a one-week high.
EMRG/FRX
Oil fell as fears of plunging demand outweighed expectations
of support from the U.S. stimulus. Brent crude futures LCOc1
fell 3% to $26.55. O/R
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