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Shares retreat on renewed pandemic fears, safe-havens rise

Published 2020-06-19, 03:23 p/m
Updated 2020-06-19, 03:24 p/m
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

(Adds gold, oil settlement prices, new comments)

* Apple temporarily closes store due to rising coronavirus cases

* Gold gains on safe-haven demand, rises above $1,750

* Dollar gains, bond yields slide on haven demand

* Oil trims gains

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - Demand for safe havens rose and global equity markets turned south on Friday after Apple Inc said it would temporarily shut 11 U.S. stores as coronavirus cases continue to rise, rekindling fears of a deadly second wave of the pandemic.

News of Apple's AAPL.O move involving stores in Florida, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina doused hopes for a quick economic recovery that had spurred risk appetite earlier in the day, driving up European and U.S. stocks about 1%.

The dollar rebounded from earlier losses and was on track for its best weekly gain in a month, while gold rose more than 1%, with futures settling above the technical barrier of $1,750 an ounce. Treasury yields also fell on safe-haven demand.

Apple's decision portends more restrictions coming back as coronavirus cases increase and the reopening process stalls, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at currency brokerage OANDA.

The $1,750 mark "has been a big barrier for gold and speaks strongly that the safe-haven trade is not going away anytime soon," Moya said.

Stocks in Europe pared some gains but closed higher before the Apple news broke. Investors remained hopeful that a massive 750 billion euro stimulus package will soon be passed, though European Union leaders made little progress in negotiations.

The Nasdaq's surge above the 10,000 mark, putting it on track to set a record closing high, was foiled by Apple.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.05% while the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.56%. Emerging market stocks rose 0.65%.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 108.29 points, or 0.42%, to 25,971.81. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 8.7 points, or 0.28%, to 3,106.64 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 3.15 points, or 0.03%, to 9,939.91.

Investors have been tugged in opposite directions by improving economic data and new breakouts of COVID-19 infections. California, North Carolina and a string of U.S. cities have mandated or urged mandatory mask use to contain spiraling coronavirus cases. China reported 32 new coronavirus cases as of the end of June 18, 25 of which were reported in Beijing, China's National Health Commission said. prices pulled back sharply from early highs on concerns the pandemic's continued spread could stall the recovery.

Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said more fiscal and monetary support for the U.S. economy will likely be needed, echoing comments by the European Central Bank chief, who said the EU's economy was in a "dramatic fall." futures LCOc1 rose 68 cents to settle at $42.19 a barrel while U.S. crude CLc1 settled up 91 cents at $39.75.

ECB President Christine Lagarde called on EU leaders to agree on their recovery plan quickly, diplomatic sources and officials said. The leaders are divided over its final size but hope a deal will be struck in July.

The dollar index =USD rose 0.191%, with the euro EUR= down 0.15% to $1.1185 and the Japanese yen JPY= up 0.09% versus the greenback at 106.89 per dollar.

Demand for German government debt was little changed, with the benchmark 10-year Bund yield at -0.415% DE10YT=RR .

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR 0.5 basis points to yield 0.6986%, coming off higher yields of 0.745% earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled 1.3% up at $1,753 per ounce.

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http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV World stocks vs. COVID-19 confirmed cases

https://tmsnrt.rs/2YSK5b4

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