By David Randall
NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - Global equity benchmarks slidand oil prices flat-lined on Friday as investors weighed arecord number of new coronavirus cases in the United Statesagainst improving economic data in Europe. More than 60,500 new coronavirus infections were reportedacross the United States on Thursday, the largest single-daytally of cases by any country since the virus emerged late lastyear in China. "The sharp increase in confirmed cases has led to growingconcerns that a return to broad lockdowns lies ahead," GoldmanSachs wrote in a note. "While lockdowns can slow down virusspread effectively, they come at very high economic cost." Economic data, however, continued to improve in the UnitedStates and Europe. The number of Americans filing for joblessbenefits dropped to near a four-month low last week, and Italianindustrial output rebounded much more strongly than expected inMay after plunging in the previous two months due to acoronavirus lockdown . "The dispersion in macro forecasts remains extremely high.It therefore should not surprise when you see market volatilityturning on mixed pieces of news," said Elliot Hentov, head ofpolicy and research at State Street. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed0.28% following broad gains in Europe and slight losses in Asia.Chinese shares fell 1.8% from a five-year high, asstate media discouraged retail investors from chasing the markethigher. In morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage fell 64.74 points, or 0.25%, to 25,641.35, theS&P 500 lost 7.44 points, or 0.24%, to 3,144.61 and theNasdaq Composite dropped 51.57 points, or 0.49%, to10,496.18. Cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illness have also beenrising in some Asian and Australian cities that had appeared tohave contained the disease, such as Tokyo, Hong Kong andMelbourne, prompting investors to move into perceived safehavens. U.S. Treasury yields slipped to their lowestlevels since late April. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 2/32 in price to yield 0.6004%, from 0.605% late onThursday. Spot gold added 0.3% to $1,808.99 an ounce.U.S. gold futures gained 0.35% to $1,805.50 an ounce. The International Energy Agency bumped up its 2020 oildemand forecast on Friday but said the spread of COVID-19 poseda risk to the outlook. U.S. crude fell 0.05% to $39.60 per barrel and Brent was at $42.30, down 0.12% on the day. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Global assets Global currencies vs. dollar Emerging markets MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by David RandallEditing by Paul Simao) ((David.Randall@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6607; ReutersMessaging: david.randall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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