(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to U.S. market open)
* European stocks close lower
* Oil prices trade relatively stable
* Gold at 9-year peak on safe-haven demand
* China blue-chip stocks close at five-year high
* World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, July 8 (Reuters) - Global stocks wavered on
Wednesday, pressured by fears that a surge in coronavirus cases
would slow the U.S. economy, while safe-haven demand lifted gold
prices above $1,800 a ounce for the first time since 2011.
Stocks on Wall Street rose, boosted by technology shares,
while the dollar slid as the number of confirmed U.S.
coronavirus cases surpassed 3 million, affecting nearly one of
every 100 Americans. Still, demand for the dollar proved
remarkably stable given Wall Street's strength.
"The buck tends to struggle when Wall Street rallies," said
Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business
Solutions in Washington.
Currencies have largely consolidated given the "the back and
forth of optimism over the economic outlook," Manimbo said.
Still, investor sentiment was on the sour side on the
resurgence of the pandemic in the United States and elsewhere.
Oil prices were steady as rising U.S. crude inventories and the
surge in COVID infections put the brakes on a recent recovery.
The MSCI world equity index, a gauge of
equity markets in 49 nations, rose 0.22% but the pan-European
STOXX 600 slid 0.71%
Frankfurt, Paris and London all
closed lower as investors assessed the risk of more restrictive
social distancing measures in some places and upcoming earnings.
London-listed HSBC shed 3.4% after Bloomberg
reported U.S. President Donald Trump's top advisers had weighed
proposals to undermine the Hong Kong currency's peg to the
dollar, which could limit access to the greenback by Hong Kong
banks.
"It is impossible for investors not to grow weary and
eventually, at some point, fall prey to the endless drip of
negative Covid-19 stories and how the second-wave virus will
crush the market," said Stephen Innes, chief global market
strategist at AxiCorp.
"Despite the lack of market participation, it certainly
feels like we are gradually morphing from the view of a fragile
recovery to one of full-bore skepticism," Innes said.
The economy would likely suffer as certain U.S. states
reimpose coronavirus-related restrictions, but imposing another
nationwide shutdown would be "a big mistake," White House
economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
0.07%, the S&P 500 gained 0.18% and the Nasdaq Composite
added 0.72%.
In China, stocks extended their gains to seven sessions,
with the blue-chip index up 1.6% to its highest close
since June 2015.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
rose 1.1%, just off a four-and-a-half-month high
reached the day before.
Coronavirus cases were also on the rise in the Australian
state of Victoria, which led to lockdown measures being
re-imposed in Melbourne, the country's second-biggest city.
Bond markets were focused on a meeting on Wednesday between
European Union officials to discuss the shape of the EU's
recovery fund.
Yields on German 10-year government debt edged 2
basis points lower to -0.477%, just above a one-week low of
-0.495%.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a
basket of six currencies, fell 0.3% to 96.592. The euro
was up 0.45% while the yen was down 0.10% at $107.4000.
Spot gold prices rose 0.88% to $1,810.10 an ounce.
Brent futures up $0.01 at $43.09 a barrel. U.S.
crude was down $0.01 at $40.61 per barrel.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by David Gregorio)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)