GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares turn cautious, oil rebounds in choppy trade

* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Asia markets turn choppy, give back some recent gains
* Oil rebounds in Asia, after steep slide
* US dollar holds steady, Aussie hit by rating change

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, April 8 (Reuters) - Asian stocks stepped back on
Wednesday after two sessions of sharp gains as investors
tempered their optimism about the coronavirus while death tolls
were still mounting across the globe.
While the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations seemed to be
levelling off in New York state, deaths across the United States
jumped by a record 1,800. Mainland China's new coronavirus cases also doubled in 24
hours due to infected overseas travellers. Not helping sentiment were wild swings in the oil market,
where prices rebounded in Asia after sliding on Tuesday to leave
traders feeling dizzy. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 futures jumped 5.5% to $24.93 a barrel,
having shed 9.4% the session before, while Brent crude LCOc1
added 75 cents to $32.62.
The erratic action spilled over into equities with MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS losing 0.7%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 went the other way and added 0.4%,
while Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 lost 0.6%.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 wobbled either side of
flat, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 dropped 1.1%.
"There is reason to be cautious as this looked to be a
relief rally ahead of next week's start of Q1 earning season and
before data reveals the depth of the virus impact," said
analysts at JPMorgan in a note.
"Data shows the recent move higher has been accompanied by
short covering and de-risking rather than active risk taking on
the long side."
The S&P 500 .SPX had ended Tuesday down 0.16%, having been
up as much as 3.5% at one stage. The Nasdaq .IXIC dropped
0.33% and the Dow .DJI 0.12%.
After U.S. stock markets closed, President Donald Trump said
the United States may be getting to the top of the coronavirus
curve. The Trump administration asked Congress for an additional
$250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses
reeling from the pandemic. "While the virus' 'curve is flattening', the economic
effects of the corona crisis will linger for years in our view,"
Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Joseph Capurso said in
a note.
"Economies will take time to re-open, some businesses will
not re-open, and unemployment will take years to return to
levels reported at the end of 2019."
Ratings agency S&P Global on Wednesday warned the cost of
combating the virus would weigh heavily on Australia's finances
and changed the outlook for the country's rating to
negative. That knocked the Aussie dollar down 0.6% to $0.6130 AUD=D3
and hit risk sentiment generally. The U.S. dollar eased 0.1% on
the safe-haven yen to 108.80 JPY= , while the euro dipped 0.2%
to $1.0865 EUR= .
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar edged up 0.2% to
100.170 =USD .
Gold prices XAU= eased back to $1,645, after touching a
3-1/2-week high on Tuesday at $1,671.

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(Editing by Sam Holmes & Shri Navaratnam)