* Euro STOXX 600 down 2.5% to 5-month low
* Wall street futures point to losses
* Euro loses 0.3% versus dollar
* Currency market volatility jumps before U.S. election
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Tom Wilson
LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Shares around the world tumbled
on Wednesday as coronavirus infections grew rapidly in Europe
and the United States, igniting fears of possible strict
lockdown measures that could damage already fragile economic
recoveries.
European shares fell on reports of potential
lockdowns in Germany and France, losing 2.5% to hit five-month
lows, rattled by a media report that France might bring in a
national lockdown from midnight on Thursday.
The Paris index was among the hardest hit, losing
3.5% to touch its lowest since May.
German shares slumped 3.2% to their lowest since
June, after a report Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted to close
restaurants and bars to curb new infections.
In Europe, automakers and banks led the
losses, falling 4.2% and 3.9% respectively.
Wall Street futures lost 1.3-1.6%.
The United States, Russia, France and others have seen
record numbers of infections in recent days, with European
governments introducing new curbs that investors fear could maul
the already fragile recoveries.
"The appetite of the different countries' authorities to
enforce new lockdowns - that's the point of discrimination
between good market performance and bad market performance,"
said Alessia Berardi, senior economist at Amundi.
"The second wave is now clearly very strong in Europe."
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks
shares in 49 countries, fell 0.6%.
Asian shares lost ground after initially showing some
resilience, in part due to more limited COVID-19 outbreaks and
better recoveries in the region's major economies.
MSCI's ex-Japan Asia index lost 0.1%,
turning negative even after China and South Korea
made gains.
The concerns over a second wave of infections played out in
currency and bond markets, too, with the euro slumping
0.4% against the dollar. German government bond yields
hit their lowest since March.
Wall Street saw a mixed day on Tuesday, with the S&P 500
losing 0.3% but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite
climbing 0.6%.
Apple Inc, Amazon.com, and Google-parent
Alphabet report later this week, closely watched
because they have been among the few winners from the pandemic.
ELECTION UNCERTAINTY
Adding to the mood of uncertainty is the Nov. 3 U.S.
presidential election.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has enjoyed a consistent
lead over President Donald Trump, prompting investors to
cautiously bet on his victory and possibly a "blue wave"
outcome, where Democrats take back the Senate as well.
But Wall Street's volatility index, a measure of
market expectations in share price swings, rose to 36.60, its
highest since early September.
That is a product of wariness that the election outcome
itself could be contested, some market players say. An unclear
result could leave expectations of a U.S. fiscal stimulus
package to counter the coronavirus pandemic in limbo.
"It is not yet clear that we will have a winner at this time
(next week) as many State Secretaries and voting commissions are
hedging their bets that they will indeed be able to project the
winner by next Wednesday morning," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.
The uncertainty was apparent in currency markets, too:
One-week implied volatility indicators for the euro and the yen
rose to their highest in nearly seven months.
The same measure of volatility for the Chinese yuan
also spiked, hitting its highest since January 2016.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar edged up
0.1%.
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