* MSCI global stock gauge falls
* S&P, Dow drop, Nasdaq up; Europe stock indexes fall
* U.S. Treasury yields down on stimulus deal doubts
* Oil rises on U.S. Gulf shutdowns (Updates with fresh comments, close of U.S. markets)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A gauge of world stock markets dropped and the U.S. dollar slipped on Tuesday as investors grappled with a surge in coronavirus cases and uncertainty over the impending U.S. presidential election.
Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed, with the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow industrials .DJI down and the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC gaining as the lack of a U.S. coronavirus fiscal relief package also hung over markets.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.31%, as the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.95%.
Ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in national opinion polls. But the race is close in key battleground states that could decide the outcome. literally a few trading days away from the election, folks are sitting on the sidelines seeing ultimately what the outcome of the election is and then they will move forward from there," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street (NYSE:STT) Global Advisors.
The United States, Russia, France and other countries have registered record numbers of infections in recent days, and European governments moved to set new curbs in motion to try to rein in a fast-growing surge of cases. acknowledged that a coronavirus economic relief deal would likely come after the election, with the White House unable to bridge differences with fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate as well as congressional Democrats. in the COVID cases combined with the fact that we are going to have to wait even longer to get a fiscal policy package put together certainly has investors on edge,” Arone said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 222.19 points, or 0.8%, to 27,463.19 the S&P 500 .SPX lost 10.28 points, or 0.30%, to 3,390.69 while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 72.41 points, or 0.64%, to 11,431.35. also focused on a busy week of corporate earnings. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) CAT.N shares fell 3.2% and 3M (NYSE:MMM) MMM.N dropped 3.1% after the two industrial companies' respective earnings reports. foreign exchange markets, the dollar index =USD , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.122%, with the euro EUR= down 0.01% to $1.1807. movements and swings are going to continue and it's anxiety and angst overall in markets about the election," said Juan Perez, currency trader at Tempus Inc. in Washington.
U.S. Treasury yields fell and the yield curve was flatter as hopes faded for a stimulus deal in Washington to arrive soon. U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 8/32 in price to yield 0.776%, from 0.803% late on Monday.
Crude rebounded as companies shut down some U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production ahead of an approaching storm, although surging coronavirus infections and rising Libyan supply limited gains. crude CLc1 settled up 2.6% at $39.57 a barrel, while Brent LCOc1 settled at $41.20 a barrel, up 1.8%.
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http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV Graphic: 2020 asset performance
http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn Graphic: World FX rates in 2020
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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