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| - Global stocks and oil prices were steady Friday as investors eyed rising coronavirus infection rates and awaited next week's corporate earnings reports. In afternoon trading, London stocks won 0.4 percent, Frankfurt added 0.5 percent and Paris was up by 0.4 percent. Trading was off to a slow start in New York meanwhile, with the Dow Jones index essentially flat in early trades. "We are in wait-and-see mode. Lots of speculation and news flow but nothing is fundamentally changing at the moment," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam told AFP. "Earnings season kicks off next week -- perhaps we will see a little more (movement) then." On the downside in Asia, Hong Kong stocks sank 1.8 percent as a fresh outbreak in the city prompted authorities to reimpose measures including the closure of schools. "Barring any major upset in the last few hours of today's session, it's basically been a chop-fest this week," noted markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Gold, after hitting a near nine-year high earlier this week, continued higher as investors sought a safe investment to park their cash. Markets have generally displayed a healthy resilience to the rapid spread of the disease around the world, with hopes for economic recovery, easing of lockdowns and government largesse providing crucial support. "COVID-19 case numbers will need to be monitored but the market seems to have developed a degree of herd immunity to these, at least in terms of headline risk," Wilson remarked. But several days of figures showing a record number of new cases in populous US states including Florida, Texas and California -- leading to the reimposition of containment measures -- were beginning to sink in. A lockdown in Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne added to investor worries in Asia. "The global battle with COVID-19 apparently has no end in sight," said Russ Mould, investment director at stockbroker AJ Bell. "The situation with coronavirus feels less like a second wave and more like aftershocks from the initial earthquake caused by the pandemic." These fresh, often localised outbreaks, in countries which apparently had the virus under control, "likely won't create the kind of disruption seen when lockdown measures were at their height, but will still hamper any economic recovery," the expert said. The US saw 65,551 new coronavirus cases, a record for a 24-hour period, with top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci calling for a pause in states' reopenings. London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 6,072.85 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.5 percent at 12,548.08 Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 4,942.69 EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.5 percent at 3,276.80 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 22,290.81 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,727.41 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 3,383.32 (close) New York - Dow: FLAT at 25,701.48 Gold: UP 0.1 percent at $1,806.01 an ounce West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $39.81 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 percent at $42.52 per barrel Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1313 from $1.1285 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 106.70 yen from 107.20 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2645 from $1.2606 Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.47 pence from 89.52 pence burs-rfj/wai/spm
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