Global stock markets fell on Thursday as a continued rise in the number of coronavirus cases dashed hopes of a swift recovery from the pandemic-induced economic slump and drove demand for safe-haven currencies such as the dollar and Japanese yen. Around 400 workers tested positive for the virus at a slaughterhouse in northern Germany, fueling contagion concerns, yet gold prices eased a bit after a Chinese medical expert said Beijing has brought a recent outbreak under control. Stocks on Wall Street seesawed either side of breakeven as investors struggled to interpret the impact of economic data without any guidance from corporations on their earnings. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said it could take a year or two for the U.S. economy to return to pre-pandemic levels, with the gross domestic product declining by 6% in 2020 and the unemployment rate still around 9% […]