GLOBAL MARKETS-Global shares retreat as coronavirus surges, Sino-US tensions rise

* European tech stocks follow U.S. peers lower
* Markets brace for U.S. earnings season
* Oil, gold slip lower, dollar firmer
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Tom Arnold and Tom Westbrook
LONDON/SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - Global stocks slipped
on Tuesday, oil sagged and a safety bid supported the dollar as
simmering Sino-U.S. tensions and new coronavirus restrictions in
California kept a lid on investor optimism with earnings season
getting underway.
MSCI's All-Country World Index .MIWD00000PUS edged down
0.4%, after touching a 20-week high on Monday. The pan-European
STOXX 600 .STOXX opened 1.5% lower and was heading for its
worst day in 14 sessions after technology stocks .SX8P dropped
3.4%. This followed a slump a day earlier in the tech-heavy
Nasdaq .IXIC .
One of the gainers was German meal-kit delivery firm
Hellofresh HFGG.DE , which added 4.3% as it raised its
full-year revenue forecast. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9%. Chinese stocks were down despite
better-than-expected trade numbers. The U.S. dollar firmed
marginally.
The moves followed a selloff on Wall Street after California
Governor Gavin Newsom ordered bars closed and restaurants and
movie theatres to cease indoor operations. S&P 500 futures ESc1 were 0.5% stronger after the index
.SPX lost 0.9% on Monday. .N
Tension grew between Washington and Beijing after the United
States rejected China's disputed claims to offshore resources in
most of the South China Sea. The Trump Administration also plans to scrap a 2013 auditing
agreement that could foreshadow a broader crackdown on
U.S.-listed Chinese firms. "It's not just the tempo which is picking up, but the aspect
of so many areas being pulled in to the dispute," said Vishnu
Varathan, head of economics at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.
"Last time it was really about the bottom line," he said,
adding that what had primarily been a trade dispute is now much
broader, making a resolution less likely and the next moves less
predictable.
The Shanghai index .SSEC fell 0.7% despite official
figures showing Chinese exports and imports topped forecasts in
June, while China continued to buy significant amounts of
commodities including iron ore. The return of restrictions in California also has markets on
edge about whether the coronavirus can wreak more economic harm.
Global infections have surged by a million in five days, and top
13 million. ABOUT 2021
Oil prices, a proxy for global energy consumption and growth
expectations, reflected the concerns. U.S crude futures CLc1
fell 1.5% to $39.52 per barrel and Brent futures LCOc1 fell
1.3% to $42.16 per barrel. O/R
Investors sought out the safety of eurozone government
bonds. Most yields were about 2-3 basis points lower, with
Germany's 10-year Bund yield DE10YT=RR , the region's
benchmark, dropping 2.5 bps to -0.43%. There are also signs of an interruption to the steady flow
of better-than-expected economic data. On Tuesday, data showed
Singapore entered recession last month, with the economy
contracting 41.2% for the quarter, worse than the 37.4% analysts
had forecast. Currency markets hemmed the dollar in a tight range. Against
a basket of currencies, the dollar index was last up 0.1% at
96.662 =USD . The euro was down 0.1% against the dollar at
$1.1331 EUR=EBS . L5N2EL1LI
Currencies exposed to global trade sentiment such as the
Australian dollar AUD=D3 and China's offshore yuan CNH=EBS
were down.
Focus shifts later to U.S. earnings, with JP Morgan JPM.N ,
Citigroup C.N , Wells Fargo WFC.N and Delta Air Lines DAL.N
due to report on Tuesday to a market already looking ahead to
2021 and beyond.
"It's really about 2021 -- 2020 is over," said fund manager
Hugh Dive, chief investment officer at Atlas Funds Management in
Sydney, where earnings season properly begins next month.
"The outlook statements are what the market will look at,"
he said. "If a company surprises on the upside with their 2020
earnings, but has shaky commentary for 2021 .... they're not
going to be rewarded for that."
Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.2% at $1,798.79 per ounce as the
dollar strengthened. GOL/

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