* European stocks claw higher after weak session in Asia
* Oil firmer after surprise cut from Saudi Arabia
* BlackRock rethinking south European bond buying due to ECB
angst
* China stresses benefits of recent trade deal with U.S.
* World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Marc Jones
LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Europe's share markets, bond
yields and the euro all inched higher on Tuesday, as mildly
reassuring signals from China's economy helped limit worries
about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections.
The mood was decidedly fragile, with five new virus cases in
Wuhan - the original epicentre of the outbreak -
renewed trade tensions and a tussle over negative
U.S. interest rates all part of the mix. London's FTSE .FTSE , Frankfurt's DAX .GDAXI and Milan
.FTMIB and Madrid .IBEX clawed higher early on, but France's
CAC40 .FCHI and Wall Street S&P 500 futures ESc1 were stuck
in the red after Asia had struggled overnight too. .T .SS
Global stocks have rebounded sharply in recent weeks as both
Asia and Europe's big economies have been able to stem
coronavirus outbreaks. It has triggered a so-called fear of
missing out, or "FOMO", from investors.
But uncertainty has remained.
"We have had a rally that has not been loved by everybody,"
said SEB investment management's global head of asset allocation
Hans Peterson.
"That rally might continue for a while longer, but we have
probably gone on to a bit of a consolidation phase for now," he
said, adding that how quickly China's economy can reopen and
then how Europe fares in the coming weeks will both be key.
The latest signals from China had something for both the
bulls and the bears.
As well as Wuhan's five new cases, China reported that
factory prices dropped at the fastest rate in four years in
April and it emerged that Beijing had suspended
imports from four large Australian meat processors. But there was the first rise in car sales in 22 months to
cheer and China's foreign ministry also stressed the benefits of
the recent Phase 1 U.S. trade deal following a report that some
officials were reconsidering the agreement. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS had ended down 0.8%, snapping two straight
sessions of gains.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was among the hardest hit .HSI , down
1.45% followed closely by Australia .AXJO which closed 1%
lower. South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 faltered 0.7% too but China's
blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 managed to recover from an
early dip.
GERMAN ANGST
Fund managers largely expect equity markets to stay the
course through June and avoid retesting March lows given the
massive monetary stimulus provided by the U.S. Federal Reserve
and other major central banks.
Late on Monday, the Fed said it would start purchasing
shares of exchange-traded funds that invest in bonds, though
policymakers also downplayed the likelihood of its interest
rates being cut into negative territory. That had kept the dollar firm in Asia, but the euro EUR=
gradually regained ground in European trading, leaving it up
0.1% at $1.0819. The Japanese yen recovered an overnight loss of
about 1% to sit at 107.55 per dollar though the Aussie dollar
stayed subdued. /FRX
In commodity markets, oil prices climbed following an
unexpected commitment from Saudi Arabia to deepen production
cuts in June. O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 futures climbed to a high of $30.11 a
barrel and were up 0.2%, or 6 cents, at $29.69, reversing some
of the previous session's losses. The benchmark fell $1.34 on
Monday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were
up 0.91%, or 23 cents, at $24.37 after touching a high of
$24.77.
Spot gold XAU= was a tad higher at $1,703 an ounce, while
Italian and Spanish bonds managed to shrug off news that the
world's largest asset manager BlackRock was "reviewing" its
overweight position on southern euro zone debt. GVD/EUR
The firm cited the recent German constitutional court ruling
that the European Central Bank had overstepped its mandate with
its 2015 bond purchase programme, which it said risked
undermining the ECB's independence and might limit its
bond-buying stimulus.
"This (the ruling) comes as the ECB's actions to cushion the
pandemic's fallout already looked meek compared with the U.S.
Federal Reserve's," BlackRock said in a note. It also "threatens
to fuel fragmentation within the euro area in the long run," it
added.
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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