GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian equities set to slip as vaccine trials, stimulus talks stall

By Suzanne Barlyn
Oct 14 (Reuters) - Asian equities were set to slip on
Wednesday as halted COVID-19 vaccine trials and an elusive U.S.
stimulus agreement weighed on investor sentiment, while the
dollar rose from Tuesday's three-week low as demand firmed for
safe-haven assets.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N said on Tuesday that it was
pausing a COVID-19 vaccine trial due to a study participant's
unexplained illness. Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N later said that it
had also paused the clinical trial of its COVID-19 antibody
treatment due to a safety concern, leading the U.S. equity
market to deepen losses. J&J shares lost 2.3%, while Eli Lilly closed down nearly 3%.
"That just spoke to the fact that a vaccine could take
longer to be delivered than what the market's expectations are
calibrated towards," said CommSec market analyst Tom Piotrowski
in Sydney.
The Australian share market will likely open about 1% lower
when trading kicks off on Wednesday, Piotrowski said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
157.71 points, or 0.55%, to 28,679.81, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
22.29 points, or 0.63%, to 3,511.93 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 12.36 points, or 0.1%, to 11,863.90.
The U.S. dollar was on track for its best daily performance
in three weeks. The dollar index =USD rose 0.543%, with the
euro EUR= down 0.02% to $1.1742.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.03%.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures YAPcm1 were down 0.74% at
22:50 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 were up
0.13%.
The Nikkei 225 index .N225 closed up 0.18% at 23,601.78 on
Tuesday. The futures contract is down 0.16% from that close.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.09%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX lost 0.55%
The Australian dollar was slugged by news that Beijing has
stopped taking shipments of Australian coal, dragging the Aussie
0.03% lower versus the greenback at $0.716. Hopes for the passage of a new coronavirus relief package
faded as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected a $1.8
trillion coronavirus relief proposal from the White House,
saying it "falls significantly short of what this pandemic and
deep recession demand." Sentiment in European and U.S. equities defied earlier
resilience in Asia, where Chinese shares got a lift from data
released on Tuesday that showed exports rising 9.9% in September
and imports swinging to a 13.2% gain, versus a 2.1% drop in
August.
The data signaled a rebound in the world's second-largest
economy but was mostly brushed aside by world stock and bond
markets. Still, it boosted oil prices as investors hoped for a
slow recovery in energy demand. China's trade improvement boosted U.S. crude CLc1 , which
recently fell 0.22% to $40.11 per barrel. Brent LCOc1 was flat
at $42.45.
Spot gold prices XAU= closed up 0.05% to $1,891.61 an
ounce.
The Japanese yen was flat versus the greenback at 105.47 per
dollar, while sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2932, down
0.02% on the day.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Tuesday said he
did not think the economy was undergoing a sharp, 'V'-shaped
recovery, because of headwinds from a second wave of COVID and
underlying public caution about spending and socializing after
the pandemic. "A 'V' is really not the way I look at it in terms of what
we face going ahead," Bailey told the House of Lords' Economic
Affairs Committee. "The recovery will take time."
Investors are also watching tensions between the European
Union and Britain after the EU demanded "substantive" movement
on Tuesday on fisheries, dispute settlement and guarantees of
fair competition in their talks on a post-Brexit trade deal,
with Germany saying they were at a "critical stage." EU leaders hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday
to assess progress.
Government bond yields mostly fell as demand for safe-haven
bonds firmed.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury US10YT=RR yield retreated
to 0.7256%, the biggest one-day drop since Aug. 4.

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