* European shares Wall Street futures dip
* Bund yields at lowest since May
* Sterling rebounds on Brexit talk hopes, dollar steadies
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday
as countries began to close schools and cancel surgeries on a
resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, though sterling gained on
hopes of further Brexit talks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX slipped, and markets in
Frankfurt .GDAXI , London .FTSE and Paris .FCHI were down
around 0.3% following moves to address rising coronavirus
infection rates in Europe. World stocks .MIWD00000PUS were
flat below recent record highs, and Wall Street futures ESc1
were also lower.
The losses followed a downbeat Wall Street on Tuesday, after
two COVID-19 trials were delayed, and U.S. stimulus hit an
impasse.
Markets are grappling with "angst about vaccine/antibody
delays, angst about rising covid cases in Europe, stalled U.S.
fiscal talks, stalled Brexit trade talks", said Kit Juckes,
macro strategist at Societe Generale.
Moving beyond bar and pub closures, the Czech Republic,
which now has Europe's worst rate per capita, shifted schools to
distance learning and hospitals started cutting non-urgent
medical procedures to free beds.
Moscow authorities said on Wednesday they would introduce
online learning for many students starting on Monday, while
Northern Ireland announced schools would close for two weeks.
Banks were in focus on Wall Street, with profits at Bank of
America BAC.N down on higher credit-loss provisions.
The U.S. dollar was steady after its best day in three weeks
on Tuesday, when its index =USD against a basket of six major
currencies rose 0.5%. The index was last 0.06% lower at 93.48.
The euro EUR= was barely changed at $1.1741.
Government bonds edged up DE10YT=RR US10YT=RR , with
German bund yields, which move inversely to prices, hitting
their lowest since May EUR/GVD . Gold, another safe haven,
gained 0.58% XAU= .
Euro zone industrial production data showed the rate of
recovery slowed sharply in August, in line with expectations.
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.
An EU-UK trade deal is difficult but still possible to
achieve if the two sides negotiate intensely in the coming
weeks, said a person close to the talks on Wednesday.
Sterling reversed earlier losses against the euro EURGBP=
and the dollar GBP=D3 on the news. EU leaders will hold a
summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to assess progress.
For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock
markets, please click on: LIVE/
Oil slipped on concerns that fuel demand will continue to
falter as rising coronavirus cases across Europe and in the
United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, impede economic
growth. Brent LCOc1 and U.S. crude CLc1 were at $42.40 and
$40.10 a barrel, respectively. O/R
Zambia, one of the world's largest copper producers, saw its
international bonds slump more than three cents on the dollar
ZM105638671= on fears of an ugly default caused by an
escalating row between the government and the country's
private-sector creditors. Stock market losses began on Wall Street Tuesday when
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N said it was pausing a COVID-19 vaccine
trial after a study participant suffered an unexplained illness.
Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N later said it too had paused the
clinical trial of its COVID-19 antibody treatment because of a
safety concern, leading the U.S. equity market to deeper losses.
J&J shares lost 2.3% and Eli Lilly closed down nearly 3%.
Hopes for the passage of a new coronavirus relief package
also faded as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected a $1.8
trillion relief proposal from the White House. "The standstill in negotiations over a new U.S. fiscal
package as COVID-19 infections continue to rise globally
highlights the importance of political consensus, and here the
outcome of the election is likely to prove pivotal," Unicredit
analysts said in a note.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS had tracked Wall Street's losses overnight
to end a seven-day rally.
The index was last down 0.11%, having toppled from a
two-and-a-half-year high of 588.76 touched on Tuesday. Chinese
shares .CSI300 closed down 0.7%.
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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
World stocks fighting off the virus https://tmsnrt.rs/373wLGB
Global asset performance in US dollar terms https://tmsnrt.rs/33TWwY1
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