(Adds oil, gold settlement prices)
* COVID vaccine hopes drive risk-on sentiment
* Economic, crude oil data help growth outlook
* Simmering U.S.-Sino tensions remain a concern
By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones
NEW YORK/LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - World shares strode to
four-month highs on Wednesday as hopes for a coronavirus vaccine
offset rising U.S.-China tensions and helped lift the euro and
oil prices.
Asian markets were choppy after more barbs between Beijing
and Washington over Hong Kong but gains of almost
2% in European bourses and Wall Street's advance pushed aside
concerns about the still growing number of COVID cases.
An experimental vaccine produced by biotech start-up Moderna
Inc MRNA.O drew safe immune responses in all 45 healthy
volunteers, an early stage trial showed on Tuesday.
There were reports on Wednesday that a separate University of
Oxford trial also looked good. U.S. Treasury yields rose and the yield curve steepened,
indicating a wider spread between long- and short-term interest
rates, as hopes for a vaccine boosted risk appetite and upbeat
economic data released on Wednesday added to the optimism.
"The market is trading fairly 'risk on' on vaccine hopes,"
said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD
Securities in New York. "It's largely COVID news driving the
price action recently."
U.S. industrial production, manufacturing output and plant
capacity rose more than expected in June and there was a bigger-
than-expected draw in U.S. crude and refined products last week
as demand edges up. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 1.65%,
as growth-sensitive sectors such as travel & leisure .SXTP ,
miners .SXPP and industrial companies .SXNP led gains.
Moderna surged 9% to a record high after its experimental
vaccine produced high levels of virus-killing antibodies,
bolstering hopes it could prove effective in later stages of
testing. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
0.7%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.86% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 0.61%.
Stocks that have benefited from widespread lockdowns,
including Amazon AMZN.O and Zoom Video Communications ZM.O ,
slid and limited Nasdaq's gains. Amazon was poised for a third
consecutive session of losses.
Hopes of progress this week towards a deal on the European
Union's 750 billion-euro COVID recovery fund helped
sentiment in Europe. The euro traded above $1.1430 EUR= for
the first time since March, and Italy and Spain's bond market
borrowing costs came down again. .EU /FRX GVD/EUR
The European Central Bank started a two-day meeting, though
no major announcement is expected when it concludes on Thursday.
The euro EUR= was last up 0.09% at $1.1406.
Chinese shares fell 1.3% .CSI300 and Hong Kong .HSI
ended flat, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an end to
Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law to punish China for
its "oppressive actions" against the former British colony.
That prompted a retaliatory warning from China's foreign
ministry that "Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal
affairs and no foreign country has the right to interfere."
Japan's Nikkei .N225 and Australia's benchmark index
remained upbeat, finishing up 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs GS.N was also pointing
higher after reporting higher quarterly profits following the
COVID crisis trading boom. JPMorgan, Citi and Wells Fargo had
reported huge Q2 profit drops on Tuesday and set aside a
collective $28 billion for loan losses. RED ALERT
The dollar was on the defensive, particularly against
risk-sensitive currencies, following the news of progress in
vaccine development. /FRX
Sweden's crown SEK= vaulted to its highest versus the
greenback since February 2019 and the risk-sensitive Australian
dollar popped to a one-month high at $0.70 AUD=D4 .
The yen JPY= was down 0.26% at $106.9500.
The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady, as
expected, on Wednesday though it warned that uncertainty over
the economic outlook was "extremely high" due to various risks,
including rising coronavirus infections in Tokyo, which was put
on "red alert" on Wednesday. Oil rose on the sharp drop in U.S. inventories, but further
gains were limited as the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and allies are set to ease supply curbs from
August as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 89 cents at $43.79 a barrel,
while U.S. crude CLc1 rose 91 cents to settle at $41.20 a
barrel.
Gold prices held above $1,800 an ounce as the surge in
coronavirus cases and renewed U.S.-China tensions bolstered
safe-haven demand, but the rally in stocks capped the advance.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 added 40 cents to settle
at$1,813.80. Spot gold XAU= rose 0.19% to $1,810.89.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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
Bulls in the China shop https://tmsnrt.rs/2WlCDoC
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>