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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, oil tumble for the week on virus, U.S. election angst

Published 2020-10-30, 04:23 p/m
Updated 2020-10-30, 04:24 p/m

* USD index ticks up, set for sharp weekly gain

* Crude prices set for double-digit weekly percentage loss

* Graphic: Stocks, oil, COVID-19: https://tmsnrt.rs/35Q1ncm (Updates to U.S. stock market close)

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Stocks across the globe resumed their slide on Friday and oil posted a double-digit weekly fall on continued concern over the economic impact of rising global coronavirus infections and ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.

Global coronavirus cases rose by over 500,000 for the first time this week, with France and Germany preparing fresh lockdowns while a record surge of U.S. cases is pushing hospitals to the brink of capacity and killing up to 1,000 people a day. outlooks and results from some of Wall Street's largest companies, including Apple AAPL.O and Facebook FB.O , further soured the mood and dragged U.S. stocks lower.

"There is a big selloff in those big tech names because they didn't live up to the hype and people are really worried about next week's election," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.

Ahead of the last campaign weekend, Republican President Donald Trump trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in national opinion polls, as he has done for months, partly because of widespread disapproval of Trump's handling of the coronavirus.

Opinion polls in the most competitive states that will decide the election have shown a closer race, still favoring Biden. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 157.51 points, or 0.59%, to 26,501.6, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 40.15 points, or 1.21%, to 3,269.96 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 274.00 points, or 2.45%, to 10,911.59.

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The S&P fell 5.6% this week and nearly 3% in October.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX edged up 0.18% on the day but also lost 5.6% this week. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 1.16% on Friday and lost 5.3% this week. Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF posted a weekly 3% decline.

Oil prices fell for the fourth time this week, weighed by demand concerns as COVID-19 cases swelled globally and fresh lockdowns were to start in Europe's two largest economies.

"Many nations with high oil consumption across the world are seeing infection levels that they didn't have even during the first wave," said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, Rystad Energy's senior oil markets analyst.

"These infection levels are destined to bite oil demand, as traffic will be curbed to a minimum during the coming lockdowns."

U.S. crude CLc1 fell 1.38% to $35.67 per barrel and Brent LCOc1 was at $37.45, down 0.53% on the day. Both fell over 10% this week alone.

The oil weakness led to a sell-off of some commodity-linked currencies, including the Russian rouble RUB= .

The dollar index, measuring the greenback against a basket of peers, ticked up for the day and posted its second weekly gain of over 1% in more than six months as its safe-haven appeal shone.

On the day, the dollar index =USD rose 0.152%, with the euro EUR= down 0.25% to $1.1645.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.05% versus the greenback at 104.68 per dollar, while the British pound GBP= was last trading at $1.2953, up 0.21% on the day.

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A risk-on revival after the U.S. election could however see the dollar resume its slide from the March highs.

"Our month-end models show a backdrop that would favor a slightly weaker dollar," said Mazen Issa, senior currency strategist at TD Securities in New York.

Longer-dated Treasury debt sold off, steepening the yield curve to the widest since June, as investors anticipated the deluge of supply that would come from a post-election stimulus package. US/

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR last fell 28/32 in price to yield 1.6633%, from 1.625% late on Thursday.

Benchmark Treasury yields ticked up, with 10-year notes US10YT=RR last down 12/32 in price to yield 0.8754%, from 0.836%. The 2-year note US2YT=RR was little changed on the day.

Spot gold XAU= added 0.6% to $1,877.90 an ounce. Silver XAG= gained 1.53% to $23.63.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Global assets

http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl Global currencies vs. dollar

http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Emerging markets

http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap

http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j Stocks and oil vs. coronavirus cases

https://tmsnrt.rs/35Q1ncm

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