GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise lead by Wall Street; sterling slides

* Deaths from COVID-19 reached half a million on Sunday
* Sterling drops on infrastructure funding concerns
* Boeing boosts industrial stocks in the U.S.

(Updates prices, changes comment, byline, dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - World share markets rose on
Monday, led by a rebound on Wall Street, even as rising COVID-19
cases threaten to stall the recovery of the world's largest
economy.
Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes rose by the
highest percentage on record in May. But they remained below
their February level and were down compared with May 2019, which
also kept alive expectations for even more economic stimulus.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide rose past 10 million and
deaths surpassed 500,000 on Sunday. The relentless spread of the
new coronavirus in the United States, Latin America and
elsewhere curbed optimism over the global economy and raised
worries that some reopening plans will be delayed.
A rally in Boeing shares BA.N after U.S. authorities
confirmed that 737 MAX certification flights could start Monday
gave life to the Dow industrials .DJI , while factory- and
materials-heavy sectors of the S&P 500 also rose .SPX .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 404.28 points,
or 1.62%, to 25,419.83, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 32.09 points,
or 1.07%, to 3,041.14 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
88.84 points, or 0.91%, to 9,846.06.
"Markets are attempting to figure out exactly what the new
norm will be given the threat of further outbreaks when
attempting to lift lockdown measures," said Joshua Mahony,
senior market analyst at IG.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.62% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.50%.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.57%. MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.93%
lower, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 lost 2.30%.
It is an important week for U.S. data, with the ISM
manufacturing index on Wednesday and monthly payrolls on
Thursday, moved up a day due to observance of the Independence
Day holiday on Friday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is
also testifying on Tuesday.
Bill Merz, head of fixed income research at U.S. Bank Wealth
Management in Minneapolis, said he expected small changes for
long-term yields, noting that Treasuries may be "one of the
least-interesting markets for the rest of the year" due to the
Fed's influence on the short end of the curve.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 1/32 in price
to yield 0.6397%, from 0.638% late on Friday.
The 2-year note US2YT=RR last rose 1/32 in price to yield
0.1583%, from 0.168%.
In currency markets, Sterling fell against both the dollar
and euro as investors focused on how Britain's government will
pay for its planned infrastructure push, while Brexit-related
risks kept pressure on the pound. Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2276, down 0.46% on
the day.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.058%, with the euro EUR= up
0.15% to $1.1234.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.49% versus the greenback at
107.69 per dollar.
U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 2% to $39.26 per barrel and
Brent LCOc1 was at $41.56, up 1.32% on the day.


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Global markets asset performance QTD https://tmsnrt.rs/3i9fC1n
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