* Stocks helped by vaccine hopes, as US-Sino tensions simmer
* Euro at four-month high ahead of recovery fund meeting
* Oil climbs before OPEC meeting
By Marc Jones and Swati Pandey
LONDON/SYDNEY, July 15 (Reuters) - World shares climbed
towards a four-month high on Wednesday with the euro and oil in
tow, as hopes for a coronavirus vaccine offset rising tensions
between the United States and China.
Asia had a choppy session after more barbs between Beijing
and Washington over Hong Kong, but near 1% gains for London
.FTSE , Frankfurt .GDAXI , Paris .FCHE and Milan .FTMIB
early on and a rise in Wall Street futures blew away any
caution.
An experimental vaccine for COVID-19 produced by the U.S.
company Moderna MRNA.O provoked safe immune responses in all
45 healthy volunteers, an early-stage study showed on Tuesday.
Uncertainty remained over how quickly an effective and
rapidly available vaccine could be found, said David Miller,
investment director at Quilter Cheviot Investment Management,
but there was a supportive backdrop for markets.
"This is all against the background of very low interest
rates," he said. "What really matters, though, is consumer
confidence. I think we are all going to remain fairly wary," he
said.
Hopes for progress on the European Union's 750 billion-euro
COVID recovery fund this week had the euro above $1.1430 EUR=
for the first time since March. It also pushed down Italy and
Spain's bond market borrowing costs. .EU /FRX GVD/EUR
Overnight, Chinese shares fell 1.3% .CSI300 and Hong Kong
.HSI was flat, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an
end to Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law to punish China
for its "oppressive actions" against the former British colony.
That prompted a retaliatory warning from China Nikkei .N225 and Australia's benchmark index remained
upbeat, though, finishing up 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively. E-mini
futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 were up 0.8%.
China's foreign ministry said Beijing would impose
retaliatory sanctions against U.S. individuals and entities in
response to a law targeting banks doing business with Chinese
officials.
"Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs and
no foreign country has the right to interfere," the ministry
said.
EURO BOOST
The dollar was on the defensive, particularly against
risk-sensitive currencies, following the news of progress in
vaccine development.
The euro EUR=EBS rose as high as $1.1445, its strongest
since March 10 and not far off its peak so far this year of
$1.1495.
The single currency has been helped by hopes the EU would
agree at its summit later this week on a financing package that
limited the economic damage from the pandemic.
The yen was little changed at 107.21 per dollar JPY= , off
a two-week high of 106.635. The Bank of Japan kept monetary
policy steady, as expected, though it warned that uncertainty
over the economic outlook was "extremely high" due to various
risks, including rising coronavirus infections in Tokyo.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar pared gains to be last
up 0.2% at $0.6990 AUD=D4 .
Oil prices rose after a drop in U.S. crude inventories and
before a OPEC video conference on production plans later in the
day. Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 24 cents at $43.14 a
barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 futures rose 22 cents to $40.50 a
barrel. O/R
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