GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares mixed amid hopes for business pickup, oil slips

(Adds gold, oil settlement prices)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices slid and world equity
markets seesawed on Wednesday as investor hopes for a pickup in
business activity were dashed by downbeat economic data and a
rise in U.S. crude stockpiles to three-year highs that
highlighted low fuel demand.
The safe-haven Japanese yen and dollar rose on data showing
U.S. private payrolls tumbled by a record 20.2 million workers
in April, German industrial orders fell at a record pace in
March, and British construction activity fell to an all-time low
last month.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.299%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.34% to $1.0801. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened
0.51% versus the greenback at 106.08 per dollar.
Retail sales in the euro zone also suffered their largest
decline on record in March. Demand has collapsed globally as the coronavirus epidemic
has resulted in massive lockdowns, and many investors see the
prospect of a swift recovery as difficult, even as the gradual
opening of economies worldwide has given hope to others.
Trying to gauge economic growth in light of the pandemic has
sent investors searching for new insights, especially in China
as its economy was first to reopen, said Yousef Abbasi, global
market strategist at INTL FCStone Financial Inc in New York.
"When are you going to see those businesses retake capacity
comparable to the last year? That's the big question," Abbasi
said. "It really is about where you think demand is going to
come back or where you think demand never really dropped off."
Technology stocks perceived to be resilient to a changing
economic and work environment led gainers on Wall Street.
"The leadership has come from stocks that benefit from
stay-at-home economy," said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio
strategist at Natixis Investment Managers.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed down 0.35%
while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
rose 0.1%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
39.34 points, or 0.16%, to 23,843.75. The S&P 500 .SPX gained
0.52 points, or 0.02%, to 2,868.96 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 96.04 points, or 1.09%, to 8,905.16.
The blue-chip Dow came under pressure from declines in oil
giant Chevron Corp CVX.N as crude prices fell. The S&P 500
energy sub-index .SPNY dropped 1.1%.
General Motors Co GM.N jumped 4.7% after the automaker
topped profit expectations and outlined plans for a May 18
restart of most of its North American plants. Oil slid below $30 a barrel as crude stocks rose and
gasoline demand remained below normal seasonal levels, snapping
a six-day winning streak for Brent futures that helped the
global benchmark almost double in price from a 21-year low on
April 22.
U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose by 4.6 million
barrels in the week to May 1, to 532.2 million barrels, compared
with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 7.8
million-barrel rise. EIA/S
U.S. oil futures CLc1 fell 57 cents to settle at $23.99 a
barrel and U.S. brent crude LCOc1 settled down $1.25 at $29.72
per barrel.
Healthcare stocks .SXDP rose in Europe on the back of
better-than-expected quarterly results from Denmark's Novo
Nordisk NOVOb.CO and German dialysis specialist Fresenius
Medical Care FMEG.DE . "Earnings season is not great, but it's really the issue of
the virus and the end of the lockdown, and sentiment towards
that will push the market," said Francois Savary, chief
investment officer at Swiss wealth manager Prime Partners.
China opened for the first time since Thursday, following a
week-long holiday, and reversed early losses, sending its
blue-chip index .CSI300 up 0.6%.
In a move seen by analysts as offering a olive branch to
Washington amid bilateral trade tensions, China's central bank
set the yuan CNY= at a broadly neutral midpoint. The exchange
rate has been a contentious point in China-U.S. ties.
Yields on longer-dated U.S. government debt jumped to
three-week highs and the yield curve steepened after the
Treasury Department sharply increased the size of its auctions
as it grapples with financing a rapidly expanding deficit.
The department said it expects to borrow $2.999 trillion
during the April-June quarter, five times more than the previous
single-quarter record set during the 2008 financial crisis.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR fell 17/32 in
price to yield 0.711%.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 1.3% lower at $1,688.50 an
ounce.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>