(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments through close of U.S. trading.)
By David Randall
NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Rising concerns about a surge in coronavirus infections sent global equities and oil prices lower on Wednesday and pushed investors into perceived safe havens such U.S. Treasuries and gold, which hovered near its highest level in eight years.
Several U.S. states are posting record infections and the death toll in Latin America exceeded 100,000, according to a Reuters tally. New York Times reported the European Union was prepared to bar U.S. travelers, putting it in the same category as Brazil and Russia. to the gloom, European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane warned the euro zone economy would need a long time to recover despite a string of solid data in recent days. United States is considering tariffs on $3.1 billion of exports from Britain, France, Spain and Germany, Bloomberg news reported, citing a notice published by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. rising daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. remaining front page news, the headlines are proving to be a weighty burden to bear this morning," Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp, said.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 2.33% following broad declines in Europe and Asia. The MSCI index has treaded water in recent weeks after jumping more than 40% from March lows on hopes the worst of the pandemic was over.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 708.72 points, or 2.71%, to 25,447.38, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 80.82 points, or 2.58%, to 3,050.47 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 222.20 points, or 2.19%, to 9,909.17..
The International Monetary Fund said it now expects global output to shrink 4.9% this year, much sharper than the 3.0% contraction predicted in April. It also reined in its forecast for a 2021 recovery, calling for global growth at 5.4% compared to 5.8% in the April forecast. dollar index =USD rose 0.52%, with the euro EUR= down 0.34% to $1.1268. The dollar is approximately 5% below three-year highs touched in March.
"The dollar and risk sentiment are likely to remain broadly negatively correlated, barring the U.S. displaying clear and enduring leadership in the global economic recovery, something hard to square with the grim U.S. news on COVID," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at NAB.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.2% to $1,762.81 after touching $1,773, its highest since October 2012, in Asian trading. U.S. gold futures GCc1 gained 0.23% to $1,776.10 an ounce.
Prices of benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR edged higher, dropping their yields to 0.6839% from 0.709% late on Tuesday.
Concerns about high inventories pushed oil prices broadly lower.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 5.85% to $38.01 per barrel and Brent LCOc1 was at $40.11, down 5.91% on the day.
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http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl Global currencies vs. dollar
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http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap
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