* Pompeo says 'significant evidence' virus emerged from lab
* Dollar, gold rise on new trade tensions
* Global equity markets fall; oil prices rise
By Herbert Lash and Julien Ponthus
NEW YORK/LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Global stock markets fell
on Monday on concerns U.S.-Chinese bickering over the origin of
the coronavirus outbreak will ignite a new trade war,
speculation that strengthened the dollar and drove gold prices
higher.
The rise in risk aversion came as business surveys showed
Asian and European factory activity in April fell deeper into
contraction, adding to a dismal outlook as government lockdowns
to contain the pandemic froze global production and slashed
demand. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said there was
"a significant amount of evidence" that the coronavirus emerged
from a Chinese laboratory, remarks that rattled investors though
he did not dispute U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that
it was not manmade. An editorial in China's Global Times said he was "bluffing"
and called on the United States to present its evidence.
"This morning's session is being dominated by risk-averse
trading as investors weigh the negative consequences to global
growth from another escalation in U.S.-China tensions," said
Simon Harvey, currency analyst at broker Monex Europe.
"The headlines of further tariffs and supply-chain
disruptions come at a time where global growth expectations are
already fragile," he said.
New orders for U.S.-made goods suffered a record decline in
March and could sink further as pandemic-related disruptions
fracture supply chains and depress exports, the Commerce
Department said in a series of increasingly bleak economic data
reports.
IHS Markit's final manufacturing PMI for the euro zone sank
to 33.4, its lowest since the survey began in mid-1997 and far
below the 50-point line dividing growth from contraction.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed down 2.65%,
while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
shed 1.04%.
Stocks were mixed on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI fell 120.01 points, or 0.51%, to 23,603.68. The
S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.36 points, or 0.15%, to 2,826.35 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 46.68 points, or 0.54%, to
8,651.63.
Airline stocks got hammered after billionaire Warren
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway dumped stakes in major U.S.
airlines.
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N , American Airlines
Group Inc AAL.O , Southwest Airlines Co LUV.N and United
Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O fell between 7.2% and 10.5%, as
Buffett said "the world has changed" for the aviation industry.
Earlier, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 2.5%, pulled down by the Hang
Seng .HSI in Hong Kong.
The dollar rose against most major currencies. The dollar
index =USD rose 0.272%, with the euro EUR= down 0.75% to
$1.0901.
The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.20% versus the
greenback at 106.76 per dollar.
Gold rose as U.S.-China tensions over the coronavirus
outbreak kindled fears of a new trade war, leading investors to
seek safe havens.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 0.7% higher at $1,713.30
an ounce.
Simon Black, head of investment management at wealth
management firm Dolfin said investors were also adjusting their
forecasts for the depth of the economic damage the pandemic will
inflict.
"It's also the economic reality sinking in," he said, adding
that a rebound by global equities of over 20% from lows hit in
March was not likely to be sustainable.
Global coronavirus cases have surpassed 3.5 million and
deaths have neared a quarter of a million, according to a
Reuters tally.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 76 cents to settle up at
$27.20 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 added 61 cents
to settle at $20.39 a barrel.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 1/32 in price
to yield 0.6415%.
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