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| - European and US stock markets declined Wednesday as dealers worried about the impact of a rise in coronavirus infections around the world. Worse-than-expected US jobless claims data reinforced the downbeat mood. In afternoon trading, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index remained in the red with a decline of 0.6 percent. Frankfurt and Paris also fell following a mixed session in Asia, while the Dow Jones index in New York was off by 0.4 percent in early trading. Wall Street had soared on Tuesday, with the Dow closing above 30,000 points for the first time ever, but it was back below that level in early exchanges on Wednesday. US markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Oil prices continued their ascent towards $50 per barrel on vaccine hopes, while the dollar slipped against the euro and yen. Bitcoin meanwhile soared to a near-three year high at $19,256, approaching its record peak of $19,511. "European markets are largely treading water ... with recent vaccine-led gains starting to fade once again," said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. Investors braced for a trifecta of US economic data ahead of the Thanksgiving break, including Federal Reserve minutes, the disappointing jobless claims and the latest estimate of third-quarter economic growth. New applications for jobless aid marked their second straight weekly increase at 778,000 which fueled concerns that a renewed economic downturn is beginning. "Many businesses have closed down for good and many jobs will never return," noted Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at ThinkMarkets. Stephen Innes, market strategist at the online trader axi remarked meanwhile that "a good number of smart money traders think a correction is due and one of significant proportions." In Asia, investors rushed out of the blocks early on Wednesday following the blockbuster US performance a day before, as vaccine successes and easing political uncertainty boosted investor confidence in the economic recovery. Signs that infection rates in Europe are slowing enough to allow some countries to ease lockdown measures added to the sense of hope across trading floors. However, excitement was tempered by a still-high number of new cases and deaths, as well as a pick-up in other nations that are causing governments to reimpose containment measures. Hopes for a worldwide rollout of a vaccine were given a lift Tuesday when Russia said its Sputnik V drug had shown to be 95 percent effective, making it the fourth that might be available soon after similar announcements from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,393.97 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.2 percent at 13,268.48 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,554.08 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,502.54 New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 29.937.44 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 26,296.86 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.3 percent at 26,669.75 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,362.33 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1909 from $1.1892 at 2200 GMT Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3361 from $1.3357 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 104.29 yen from 104.44 yen Euro/pound: UP at 89.12 pence from 89.03 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $45.36 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.7 percent at $48.21 dan-rfj/wai/pvh
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