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| - Europe's stock markets slipped for a second straight session on Wednesday, with concerns about fresh spikes in coronavirus infections helping haven investment gold above $1,800 an ounce for the first time since 2011. Europe's key indices were down by up to 1.2 percent down in the mid-afternoon, while on Wall Street the Dow Jones posted slim gains at the opening bell after Tuesday's downturn. Equity markets were in "a struggle for any meaningful direction", said Craig Erlam, an analyst with OANDA. "The rally has clearly lost momentum as the grand reopening runs into the kind of challenges we all feared," he said. A string of positive indicators, from China to the US in recent weeks -- as well as hopes for a vaccine and the easing of lockdowns around the world -- had fuelled a global stock markets rally that had lifted equities out of their March depths. But while hopes that the world economy will recover remained intact, the ongoing spread of coronavirus has seen indices run out of steam over the past two days. That helped gold climb to $1,804.31 an ounce Wednesday on the London Bullion Market, the highest level in 8.5 years, as recent dollar weakness also made the metal priced in the US unit attractive to investors. "It is little surprise that the original safe haven is continuing its rally," said Carlo Alberto De Casa, chief analyst at ActivTrades. "Investors are still buying stocks but it seems they want to be covered in case of any market correction." With gold seen as a good store of value, Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said the metal was also winning support thanks to fears of high inflation caused by central bank stimulus to prop up the global economy. "The gold bull thesis rests not only on the requirement for safe assets given the economic uncertainty, but also longer term on fears of a surge in inflation caused by the massive increase in the money supply," he said in a client note. Adding to market unease were ongoing tensions between China, the US and several other nations over Beijing's imposition of a security law in Hong Kong. The pound, meanwhile, got a small boost against the dollar after Britain's finance minister announced a package to help the economy recover from the coronavirus fallout. The measures "will pack a sizeable punch and support higher private spending with significant implications for hard hit sectors such as construction, housing and hospitality", said Kallum Pickering, an analyst with Berenberg. London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,154.64 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.7 percent at 12,524.27 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.2 percent at 4,981.50 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,288.85 New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 25,924.61 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 22,438.65 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 26,129.18 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.7 percent at 3,403.44 (close) Gold: UP 0.4 percent at $1,802.49 an ounce West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $40.52 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $43.13 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1300 from $1.1271 at 2040 GMT Dollar/yen: UP at 107.55 yen from 107.54 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2549 from $1.2541 Euro/pound: UP at 90.05 pence from 89.87 pence burs-jh/jj
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