World stocks down for a third day

World stocks eased for the third day in a row and oil fell on Thursday, with Wall Street also eyeing a weaker open, as widening COVID- 19 restrictions weighed on market sentiment.

Positive news about possible vaccines had helped push the MSCI World Index to a record high earlier in the week, but investors pulled back as a host of countries announced record infection rates and tougher lockdowns. At 1202 GMT, the broad gauge of global equities was trading down 0.3%, pulled lower by weakness in most of Europe’s leading indexes. U. S. stock futures were down 0.1%. Oil prices also fell 0.4% to 0.9% as virus restrictions crimped demand expectations.

The weaker sentiment was triggered by a late U. S. selloff that saw the S& P 500 close down 1.1%, following news that the country’s COVID- 19 deaths had passed 250,000, setting off a host of lockdowns. Similarly sombre news in Japan, which saw a record number of cases and a rise in Tokyo’s pandemic alert level, sent the Nikkei down 0.4%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia- Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8%.

The positive vaccine news had continued yesterday after Pfizer said its COVID19 vaccine was 95% effective and it would apply for emergency U. S. authorization within days, following a similar recent report from Moderna.

Norwegian Air slumped 15.7% after it asked an Irish court to oversee a restructuring of its massive debt as it seeks to stave off collapse.

Looking ahead, all eyes will be on the U. S. Federal Reserve for signs it could step in with fresh monetary stimulus — something two officials nodded to on Wednesday. Investors will also await U. S. jobs data at 1330 GMT.

Gold traders continued to take a longer- term view, betting the COVID- 19 vaccines would translate into a quicker economic recovery. That sent the precious metal to a one- week low. Bitcoin, sometimes regarded as a safe haven or at least a hedge against inflation, also pulled back and last stood at $ 17,720.