* Gold up for fourth straight session
* European Union ready to bar U.S. travellers
* European shares down 1%
* Asia shares ex-Japan nudges to highest since early March
* World FX charges in 2020 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Tom Arnold
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Gold costs surged to their highest in practically eight years on Wednesday, whereas world shares cooled as indicators of an acceleration in coronavirus instances saved traders on edge.
Fuelling issues about sustained weak point within the tempo of the financial restoration was information displaying a number of U.S. states seeing document infections and the dying toll in Latin America passing 100,000, in response to a Reuters tally.
The European Union is even ready to bar U.S. travellers due to the surge of instances within the nation, placing it in the identical class as Brazil and Russia, the New York Occasions reported.
All that and softness within the greenback, together with limitless low cost liquidity from central banks, helped spot gold achieve 0.2% to $1,770.92 per ounce after touching $1,773, its highest degree since October 2012 in early Asian commerce.
International shares had been 0.3% decrease and have been transferring sideways in current weeks after rising greater than 40% from March lows on hopes the worst of the pandemic was over.
European shares had been 1% decrease.
There was some excellent news in markets, with rising market shares climbing to a 3-1/2 month excessive. They had been up 0.5% on the day, whereas MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outdoors Japan added 0.5% to achieve its highest since pandemic lockdowns first cratered markets in early March.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 reversed early losses to achieve 0.1%.
“International fairness market futures are struggling to make beneficial properties as we speak, probably for no different motive than with rising day by day Covid-19 instances within the US remaining front-page information, the headlines are proving to be a weighty burden to bear this morning,” stated Stephen Innes, chief world market strategist at AxiCorp. “The trough in world progress is certainly behind us, however the restoration trajectory in H2 stays unsure.”
Towards a backdrop of issues over a weaker U.S. greenback and {that a} leap in infections will result in extra stimulus measures, gold ought to stay on a fairly constructive path, he stated.
The euro, headed for its greatest month towards the greenback since October, inched greater to $1.1303.
The greenback was only a contact unfavorable towards a basket of currencies, simply above a one-week low hit Tuesday.
“The greenback and threat sentiment are more likely to stay broadly negatively correlated, barring the U.S. displaying clear and enduring management within the world financial restoration, one thing laborious to sq. with the grim U.S. information on COVID,” stated Ray Attrill, head of FX technique at NAB.
The New Zealand greenback eased after the nation’s central financial institution stated it may need to do but extra to stimulate the financial system, together with slicing charges additional, increasing bond purchases and even shopping for overseas property.
Euro zone bond yields had been broadly regular, with a give attention to Austria which is anticipated to promote a brand new 100-year bond that may increase 2 billion euros, one of many longest-dated bond gross sales because the coronavirus disaster.
Germany can even go to the first market with the primary reopening of a 15-year bond which is anticipated to lift 2.5 billion euros.
Oil futures had been blended as worries about oversupply out there, stoked by an increase in U.S. crude inventories, had been offset by a drop in gasoline shares.
Brent crude was up 0.3% at $42.75 a barrel, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 1 cents to $40.34 a barrel, paring some earlier losses.
Further reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney
Modifying by Raissa Kasolowsky
