New gold recovery in the last row between the United States and China, shares fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar weakened and gold rose further on Thursday as a global equity indicator drifted after previous gains in Europe and Asia as rising COVID-19 cases affected the American labor market and deteriorating relations between the United States and China gave investors pause. .

The dollar hit four-month lows against a basket of peer currencies and gold rose for the fifth straight session to hit a new nine-year high as mounting tensions between the United States and China increased the appeal of the safe haven for bullion. .

Investors are selling the US dollar on expectations that the US economy is likely to underperform its peers in the developed world, as the rise in new US coronavirus infections increased the total number of cases to more than 4 million.

“There has been a change in dollar sentiment,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Forex in New York.

The dollar index fell 0.36% to $ 94.6590

Better-than-expected earnings in Europe boosted regional stocks, with Germany’s Daimler AG forecasting an increase in operating profit at its Mercedes-Benz division and Unilever’s second-quarter sales falling much less than feared.

Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index closed just 0.08%.

Wall Street also struggled after four days of gains as investors expected a new US coronavirus relief package, and the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week for the first time by nearly four. months.

The MSCI benchmark index for global equity markets rose 0.15%, down on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31%, the S&P 500 gained 0.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%.

A further drop in U.S. Treasury yields, with the 10-year benchmark below 0.6%, dampened financial stocks.

“Finance will simply have a hard time participating if we stay that low, with that being the second largest sector in the S&P 500,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.

“It will be difficult to continue the momentum,” he said.

The 10-year Treasury note fell 1.4 basis points to 0.5807%.

Shares have risen to their highest level since February, and many country indices erased their decline in March when the coronavirus pandemic sent markets into freefall.

Oil declined as rising US fuel inventories and concerns about growing cases of coronavirus outweighed the impact of a weaker dollar, which generally increases oil prices.

Brent crude oil futures fell $ 0.25 to $ 44.04 a barrel. US crude oil futures fell $ 0.10 to $ 41.8 a barrel.

Gold spot prices rose 1.28% to $ 1,895.66 an ounce, about $ 25 from its all-time high in September 2011.

Investors have turned to the safe metal as they seek refuge from a possible reversal in stock prices and a possible rise in inflation after so many monetary and fiscal stimuli around the world.

In the currency markets, the euro rose 0.1% to $ 1.1583, near the 21-month high of $ 1.1601 that it touched on Wednesday, as the deal between members of the European Union on a large economic recovery fund He kept giving momentum.

Traders satisfied with the deal have also cut the costs of Italian loans, and 10-year government debt yields fell to a new 4-1 / 2-month low, approaching 1%.