(Adds European futures at open, updates levels throughout)
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Oil prices fall to the lowest since late-May
* MSCI ex-Japan bounce, Nikkei jumps
* Rising global coronavirus cases, lockdowns worry investors
* Investor attention turning to U.S. elections on Tues
By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Asian shares bounced off one-month
lows on Monday helped by Chinese factory activity expanding at
its fastest pace in a decade, while oil prices skidded as many
Western countries slid back into coronavirus-driven lockdowns.
A major risk event this week is the U.S. presidential
elections on Tuesday with Republican President Donald Trump
trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden in national opinion
polls.
Polls in the most competitive states that will decide the
election have, however, shown a closer race, still favouring
Biden.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 0.36%, as China's Caixin/Markit
Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index offered hope the
region's success in containing the coronavirus could spare it
the economic pain being inflicted on Europe and the United
States.
The mood in Europe was downbeat with many countries in the
region battling new COVID-19 infections and slipping back into
virus lockdowns.
In early European trades, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures
STXEc1 were down 0.1%, German DAX futures FDXc1 were flat
and London's FTSE futures FFIc1 were off 0.4%.
In Asia, on the other hand, all major indexes except New
Zealand were up on Monday.
Australian shares .AXJO rose 0.4%.
Chinese shares were higher with the blue-chip CSI300
.CSI300 rising 0.3% with the country's vast industrial sector
steadily returning to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic
paralysed huge swathes of the economy. Japan's Nikkei .N225 jumped 1.4%.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 added 0.2%, with
investor focus turning to the U.S. presidential elections on
Tuesday.
Fresh coronavirus-induced lockdowns in Europe and parts of
the United States have raised concerns over the outlook for fuel
consumption, sending Brent crude LCOC1 to a low of $35.74 per
barrel, a level not seen since late May. U.S. crude went as low
as $33.64. O/R
Global coronavirus cases surpassed 500,000 last week with
Europe crossing the bleak milestone of 10 million total
infections. The United Kingdom is grappling with more than
20,000 new cases a day while a record surge of U.S. cases is
killing up to 1,000 people a day. "Markets are looking ahead of Q4 and early 2021 where the
growth outlook looks clouded given the move to stricter
lockdowns in Europe," Perpetual analysts wrote in a note.
They said a -1% hit to European growth would send global
gross domestic product down by 0.5% over the subsequent 12
months.
"The key question here is how long are the lockdowns needed
to get the virus under control."
Underwhelming outlooks and results from some of Wall
Street's largest companies last week, including Apple AAPL.O
and Facebook FB.O , further soured the mood and dragged U.S.
stocks lower last week. .N
In currencies, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3
slipped 0.4% to go below 70 U.S. cents for the first time since
July. It was last at $0.7002.
The Japanese yen JPY= was slightly higher at 104.73 per
dollar, while the British pound GBP= was last 0.3% lower at
$1.2907. The euro EUR= slipped to $1.1635.
That left the dollar index, which measures the greenback
against a basket of peers, barely changed at 94.12. =USD
A risk-on revival after the U.S. election could however see
the dollar resume its slide from the March highs, analysts said.
JPMorgan analysts said the market likely views a Biden win
as "short-term neutral" but "long-term negative" as his expected
tax policy outweighs the benefits from a large stimulus package.
"SPX may have upside to ~3400, but it would have larger
downside depending on the details of the package, potentially to
~2,500," they added.
On Friday, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.21% to close at
3,269.96. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 2.45% while the
Dow .DJI fell 0.6%.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Jacqueline Wong)