GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia markets to open lower on pandemic worries, shrugging off U.S. equities upswing

By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Asia shares were set to open
lower on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's comments
regarding the country's surge in novel coronavirus cases
outweighed a slight rally on Wall Street.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures YAPcm1 lost 1.06% in early
trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures NKc1 added 0.24%, while
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI HSIc1 lost 0.34%.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.13%.
Speaking at his first White House briefing focused on the
pandemic in months, Trump said the virus will probably get worse
before it gets better. Cases have been rising across the United
States, with now nearly 141,000 deaths recorded from the
disease. L2N2ES250
Also weighing on markets were comments made earlier in the
day by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the United
States wants to build a global coalition to counter China, which
he accused of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to further its
own interests. "Markets focused on the positives overnight," Hayden Dimes
of ANZ Research wrote on Wednesday. "However, the main near-term
question for the U.S. economy is … what damage has been done in
July, as COVID-19 cases have surged."
U.S. equity markets had been higher for most of the session
on Tuesday, as investors cheered the European Union's creation
of a 750-billion-euro recovery fund and U.S. regulators
continued hammering out a new stimulus agreement.
U.S. Republicans and Democrats remained far apart, however,
on how much to spend on coronavirus relief, as Democrats called
Republicans' $1-trillion-proposal insufficient. L2N2ES18O
The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index turned positive for
the year, hitting its highest level since Feb. 21.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 159.53 points,
or 0.6%, to 26,840.4, the S&P 500 gained 5.46 points, or 0.17%,
to 3,257.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 86.73
points, or 0.81%, to 10,680.36. L2N2ES1W0
Gold soared to a nine-year peak on Tuesday, boosted by a
dollar sell-off. Spot gold XAU= rose 1.5% to $1,842.52 per
ounce, its highest since September 2011. U.S. gold futures
GCcv1 settled up 1.5% at $1,843.9. L2N2ES0WC
The U.S. dollar .DXY , viewed as safe-haven rival to
bullion, hit more than a four-month low. USD/
The Australian dollar rose 0.01% versus the greenback at
$0.713.
Oil prices also hit their highest level in more than four
months, although prices pared gains in post-settlement trade on
news that U.S. crude inventories grew last week by more than
expected.