GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil slips on oversupply fears, but stocks jump on virus slowdown hopes

* Oil prices fall after Russia-Saudi Arabia delay meeting
* British pound skids as PM Johnson admitted in hospital
* Equity investors focus on slowdown in COVID-19 deaths

By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, April 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices skidded on Monday
after Saudi-Russian negotiations to cut output were delayed,
keeping oversupply concerns alive, while stocks jumped as
investors were encouraged by a slowdown in coronavirus-related
deaths and new cases.
In currency markets, sterling GBP= fell 0.4% early in Asia
after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to
hospital following persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after
testing positive for the virus. Brent crude LCOc1 fell as much as $4 after Saudi Arabia
and Russia postponed their meeting, initially scheduled for
Monday, to Thursday even as the virus pandemic pummels demand.
Equity investors, however, took solace as the death toll
from the coronavirus slowed across major European nations
including France and Italy. "With a very light calendar globally today, there is enough
momentum to keep the equity rally running through the course of
the day and also into European time," said Jeffrey Halley,
Senior Market Analyst, Asia Pacific, OANDA.
"All bets are off after that although I could see a couple
of days of positive sentiment ahead, especially if those
mortality rates keep falling."
U.S. stock futures ESc1 rose 3.2% during Asian trading
after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope the country was
seeing a "levelling off" of the coronavirus crisis. Futures for London's FTSE FFIc1 were up 1.7% while those
for Eurostoxx 50 STXEc1 gained 2.6%.
In Asia, Australia's benchmark index .AXJO rose 3.3%,
Japan's Nikkei added 2.4% .N225 after a slow start while South
Korea's KOSPI index .KS11 climbed 2.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index .HSI was 0.9% higher.
That sent MSCI's broadest index of Asian shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up almost 1%, on track for its best
performance in a week.
Markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.
Worryingly, the number of new coronavirus cases jumped in
China on Sunday while the number of asymptomatic cases surged
too as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak
despite drastic containment efforts.
"Focus in markets will now turn to the path out of lockdown
and to what extent containment measures can be lifted without
risking a second wave of infections," National Australia Bank
analyst Tapas Strickland wrote in a note.
"Key to a strong rebound in China will be the ongoing
lifting of containment measures with Wuhan – the epicentre of
the outbreak – set to lift containment measures on April 8."
Strickland, however, noted many in China were still subject
to social distancing and isolation restrictions to prevent a
resurgence in infections.
The pandemic has claimed more than 68,000 lives and infected
over a million people globally. The United States has the
highest number of reported cases, at over 300,000. Concerns about heavy damage to the global economy have
pushed investors into the perceived safety of government bonds
where yields are at or near all-time lows. US/
Elsewhere in currencies, the dollar gained 0.4% against the
yen to 108.93. JPY= . FRX/
The euro EUR= was barely moved at $1.0810 while the risk
sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 was up 0.3% at $0.6014. The
pound was last down 0.2% at $1.2238.
In commodities, Brent crude futures LCOc1 was down nearly
3%, or $1, at $31.14 a barrel while U.S. crude CLc1 slipped
4.4%, or $1.24, to $27.09. O/R
Spot gold XAU= added 0.2% to $1,619.1 an ounce.

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(Editing by Sam Holmes and Himani Sarkar)