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| - Equities slid Monday, extending last week's losses on fears that a second wave of virus infections could spark fresh lockdowns and snub out economic recovery. "Markets around the world have sold off again on heightened fears around a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths," said investment director Russ Mould at stockbroker AJ Bell. Tokyo tumbled to a loss of 3.5 percent by the close, Hong Kong slid 2.2 percent and Shanghai lost one percent on signs that the deadly COVID-19 disease has returned in China amid a resurgence in the United States. Stocks in Europe dived more than two percent at the open, but later trimmed their losses, as European nations press ahead with easing their strict lockdowns. Oil prices also extended last week's losses on fears that a second wave could ravage demand for the commodity. "It seems a combination of a new spike in COVID-19 cases in Beijing and disappointing Chinese data is weighing on sentiment at the start of the week," noted analyst Craig Erlam at trading firm OANDA. "The numbers are still very low in the Chinese capital but the risks are high which may explain the apprehension we are seeing in the markets." Beijing has carried out mass testing and locked down several neighbourhoods after 79 cases were linked to a single wholesale food market in the capital. City official Li Junjie on Monday said cases had also been found at another market. The city has raced to quash the new outbreak, closing the affected markets, deploying paramilitary police and putting nearby housing estates under lockdown. That came as more than a dozen US states, including populous Texas and Florida, reported their highest-ever daily case totals, while Rome and Tokyo have also seen fresh spikes. "It means the virus hasn't lost its infectiousness, it isn't weakening... we shouldn't let down our guard," World Health Organization deputy director Ranieri Guerra told Italian journalists. AxiCorp analyst Stephen Innes warned that new US infections could be an ominous sign for markets. "Falling infection rates have provided investors the confidence that the lockdown approach was working, allowing equity investors to look forward to 2021 as impressive monetary and fiscal policy provide a post-pandemic bridge." "However, rising new daily COVID-19 cases in two of the three most populous states in the US will test that resolve." Despite the latest equity losses, global stock markets have soared up to 50 percent from their March troughs thanks to the lifting of stay-at-home orders and trillions of dollars of stimulus by governments and central banks. On Monday in Europe, Germany, Belgium, France and Greece reopened their borders to EU countries from Monday. Austria will follow on Tuesday and Spain on Sunday. France on Monday allowed cafes and restaurants to serve customers inside, as well as on terraces. Non-essential retailers in Britain were meanwhile permitted to open their doors for the first time to customers since the country's lockdown began at the end of March. London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,061.52 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.7 percent at 11,862.03 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 4,814.70 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,125.85 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 3.5 percent at 21,530.95 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 2.2 percent at 23,776.95 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 2,890.03 (close) New York - Dow: UP 1.9 percent at 25,605.54 (close) West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.3 percent at $35.41 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.4 percent at $38.19 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1252 from $1.1256 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.31 yen from 107.38 yen Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2531 from $1.2540 Euro/pound: UNCHANGED at 89.76 pence dan-rfj/bcp/spm
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