Global shares were mixed on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases soared in the US and investors cautiously eyed a summit of European leaders discussing a fund to help the economy recover from the pandemic crisis.
Wall Street appeared set to dip on the open, with Dow and S&P 500 futures both down 0.1% In Europe, France's CAC 40 was flat at 5,071, while Germany's DAX rose 0.5% to 12,989. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% to 6,259.
Talks between European Union leaders failed to reach an agreement on a 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and a coronavirus recovery fund to tackle the crisis. They were meeting again Monday on the fourth day of a summit.
Hayaki Narita, analyst at Mizuho Bank, said rising numbers of confirmed infections in the US, trade tensions between the US and China and the EU policy impasse were all adding to market risks.
"But with increasing dangers of political missteps and policy fumbles, the question is whether things could start to come undone in a more alarming manner," said Narita.
Corporate earnings and US unemployment data are expected to draw attention this week, according to analysts.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier losses to finish less than 0.1% higher at 22,717.48. South Korea's Kospi was little changed, dipping 0.1% to 2,198.20. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 6,001.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1% lower to 25,057.99, while the Shanghai Composite gained 3.1% to 3,314.15.
Japan reported trade data showing exports fell 26.2% in June from a year earlier. Its trade-reliant economy has plunged into recession and its outbreaks of COVID-19 cases, while still fewer than the hardest-hit nations, have been growing recently, especially in Tokyo.
Signs that an outbreak of the coronavirus has spread to a second city in northwestern China's Xinjiang, even as authorities close off communities and impose travel restrictions in the regional capital Urumqi, further darkened the mood.
In India, a new record surge of 40,425 reported cases in the past 24 hours took the nation's cumulative total to more than 1.1 million. India also had another 681 deaths, taking its total fatalities to 27,497.
Benchmark US crude lost 27 cents to $40.32 a barrel. It slipped 16 cents to $40.59 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 28 cents to $42.86 a barrel.
The dollar was trading at 107.08 Japanese yen, up slightly from 107.04 yen Friday. The euro inched up to $1.1464 from $1.1430.
