(Adds oil, gold settlement prices, close of European markets)
* Nasdaq hits record high in broad worldwide stock rally
* Crude prices retreat on fears virus will reduce demand
* Coronavirus death toll rises to 427
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The dollar strengthened and
global equity markets surged on Tuesday, with Wall Street's
Nasdaq index hitting a record high, as investors took heart from
China's efforts to minimize the economic impact from the
coronavirus epidemic.
The price of gold and government debt, traditional
safe-havens, slid as investors gained confidence that China will
do whatever it can to alleviate the economic toll from an
outbreak that has killed more than 420 people and infected more
than 20,000. nL4N2A401C]
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) pumped hundreds of
billions of dollars into the financial system this week and
policymakers are readying further measures to support the
economy, policy sources told Reuters. China's central bank said
the measures it has taken this week showed its determination to
stabilize financial market expectations and restore market
confidence. Chinese stocks overnight reversed some of Monday's plunge
while European equities posted their best single-day gain since
Oct. 11, when a breakthrough was reached on Brexit talks. Copper
prices jumped after China moved to protect its economy.
MSCI's gauge of global equity performance .MIWD00000PUS
rose 1.61%, its biggest one-day gain since January 2019, boosted
by a rally on Wall Street lifted the index, which is 55%
weighted to U.S. stocks.
London's heavyweight FTSE rose 1.55% on a rally in mining
stocks and a weak pound sparked by renewed worries about
Britain's post-Brexit trade relations with the European Union.
.FTSE .EU
Chinese stocks rebounded in choppy trade a day after anxiety
over the coronavirus erased $400 billion in value from
Shanghai's benchmark index when the market reopened following an
extended Lunar New Year holiday.
The Shanghai Composite .SSEC closed up 1.3%, while the
blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300 rebounded 2.6% after a near 8% slide
on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HIS advanced 1.2%. .SS
From a global perspective, the coronavirus outbreak is seen
as a temporary setback, said Jack Ablin, chief investment
officer at Cresset Capital Management.
"Worried investors drew pretty scary trendlines and that's
probably not the case," Ablin said. "China is certainly taking
the coronavirus seriously."
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.64% and
emerging market stocks rose 2.40%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
458.11 points, or 1.61%, to 28,857.92 The S&P 500 .SPX gained
55.16 points, or 1.70%, to 3,304.08, and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 204.09 points, or 2.2%, to 9,477.49.
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O dropped 2.8% after the company
reported results late Monday, as Google's advertising business
and new data about YouTube and Google Cloud broadly
disappointed. Other technology stocks, however, rallied. Apple Inc
AAPL.O shares rose 3.3% and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O gained
2.89% gain, which helped the technology .SPLRCT index climb
2.6%.
The safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc fell against the
dollar for a second straight session.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.16%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.15% to $1.1041. The yen JPY= weakened 0.75% versus the
greenback at 109.52 per dollar.
China's yuan gained 0.3% in international markets to 6.9935
yuan per dollar CNH= , in line with rebounds in Chinese shares
and holding above its one-month low of 7.0230 per dollar hit in
European trade on Monday.
Oil prices edged lower as fears that energy demand would
take a long-term hit from the coronavirus outbreak offset
prospects for more cuts in crude production from the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its
allies.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 49 cents to settle at $53.96 a
barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 settled
down 50 cents at $49.61, the first settlement below $50 since
January 2019.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 1.7% at $1,555.50 an
ounce.
Copper CMCU3 , which is used as a gauge of global economic
health, in particular China's, ended the session 1.7% higher at
$5,618 a tonne.
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
Oil, copper, Chinese stocks performance since virus outbreak
https://tmsnrt.rs/37RShMa
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