GLOBAL MARKETS-Rising U.S. coronavirus cases slam stocks, push debt yields lower

(Adds close of U.S. markets)
* Escalating U.S-China tensions, data weigh on markets
* Oil prices fall on agreement to ease supply curbs
* Gold prices ease as ECB keeps policy on pause

By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Government debt yields and
global equity markets fell on Thursday as a growing number of
U.S. coronavirus cases weighed on risk sentiment, which was also
hurt by deteriorating U.S.-China relations and discouraging
Chinese data.
A jump in the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases has forced
states such as California to reduce business activity again,
sparking fears of further economic damage and taking the shine
off a Wall Street rally built on recovery hopes.
The pandemic continues to surge in many Southern and Western
states, with 67,404 new U.S. cases reported as of Wednesday by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of
new cases in European and Asian developed countries is in the
hundreds, with the exception of Russia and the UK, according to
daily situation reports by the World Health Organization.
Data showed the resurgence in new cases was chipping away at
a budding recovery. While U.S. retail sales rose a
better-than-expected 7.5% in June, the Labor Department said 1.3
million people filed for state unemployment benefits during the
week ending July 11, down just 10,000 from the prior period.
The S&P 500, less than 6% off its all-time peak in February,
slipped from a rally that pushed it to a five-week high.
U.S. stocks are taking a pause after a strong run-up in
recent days, said Jon Adams, senior market strategist at BMO
Global Asset Management in Chicago.
"There is a bit more concern today at least around the
resurgence of the virus, and initial jobless claims were a bit
higher than expectations," Adams said.
"We do think we might see a pause in the resumption of
economic recovery that we've seen over the last couple of
months," he said.
MSCI's world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 nations, fell 0.72%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
0.5%, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.34% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 0.73%.
Treasury yields fell and gold eased, though futures
contracts remained above $1,800 an ounce. The 10-year Treasury
note US10YT=RR fell 1.2 basis points to yield 0.6184%.
Relations between the world's two largest economies have
sunk to a decades low, with new points of contention surfacing
almost daily.
The Trump administration is considering banning travel to
the United States by all members of the Chinese Communist Party
and their families, a person familiar with the matter said, a
move that would worsen already-tense U.S.-China relations.
China accused the United States of "gangster logic" after
President Donald Trump ordered an end to Hong Kong's special
status under U.S. law in response to China's imposition of new
security legislation on the former British colony. Asian stock markets fell overnight and the Chinese yuan
CNY= slid as China grappled with the pandemic and renewed
tensions with the United States, which span trade, technology
and geopolitics. The risks to China's economy were partly reflected in data
that showed Chinese consumers kept their wallets tightly shut in
June. Retail sales slid 1.8%, the fifth month of decline and
worse than a forecast for 0.3% growth last month. In currency markets the euro EUR= , which hit a four-month
high of $1.1452 on Wednesday, slid 0.25% to $1.1381. The dollar
index =USD rose 0.334% to $96.3140 and the yen JPY= gained
0.37% at $107.3200.
Italian government bond yields fell to their lowest since
late March at 1.245% IT10YT=RR after the European Central Bank
reassured markets it will most likely use the full firepower of
emergency bond purchases to tackle the hit from the coronavirus.
While the economy in the 19-country euro zone had shown
signs of a "significant, though uneven and partial recovery,"
the outlook remained uncertain amid risks of a second wave of
infections, ECB President Christine Lagarde said. Oil prices eased after OPEC and allies such as Russia agreed
to taper record supply curbs from August, though the drop was
cushioned by hopes for a swift pickup in U.S. demand after a big
drawdown from the country's crude stocks. Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled down 42 cents at $43.37
a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 fell 45 cents to settle at
$40.75 a barrel.
Spot gold prices fell below the $1,800 an ounce, but futures
held above the key level. U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled down
0.7% to $1,800.30.

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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
The ECB's QE programme https://tmsnrt.rs/3fk6HIS
Euro zone bond markets during the coronavirus crisis https://tmsnrt.rs/3gMe7Vy
US GDP https://tmsnrt.rs/3h6Rco6
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