* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

* Nikkei up 0.8% early, investors still cautious

* Wall St surges, some relieved at Biden success

* Virus spread still causing deaths, economic dislocation

* Dollar regains some ground as yields rise off record lows

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY, March 5 (Reuters) - Asian shares were looking to rally for a fourth straight session on Thursday as U.S. markets swung sharply higher and another dose of central bank stimulus offered some salve for the global economic outlook.

Wall Street seemed to find relief in the strong performance of former Vice President Biden in the Democratic nomination campaign. Biden is considered less likely to raise taxes and impose new regulations than rival Bernie Sanders.

The U.S. House of Representatives also approved an $8.3 billion funding bill to combat the spread of the virus, sending the emergency legislation to the Senate.

In another wild swing the Dow surged 4.53%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.22% and the Nasdaq 3.85%.

Asian markets followed, if a little more cautiously. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2%, in its fourth day of gains.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8% and hard-hit Australian shares finally managed a bounce of 1.6%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.4% after its overnight jump.

That was not to say the coronavirus news had got any brighter, with mounting deaths across the globe, Italy closing all of its schools and airlines cutting more flights.

"There is little doubt that the covid-19 outbreak will slow global growth considerably this quarter, and we expect it to actually produce a rare non-recessionary contraction in GDP," said JPMorgan economist Joseph Lupton.

He noted the bank's all-industry PMI measure of activity for February slumped 6.1 points, the largest one-month drop on record, and at 46.1 was at the lowest since May 2009.

The Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada had both responded by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points, and markets in the euro zone are pricing in a 90% chance that the ECB will cut its deposit rate, now minus 0.50%, by 10 basis points next week.

Yet, as policymakers grapple with the best strategy to avoid a global recession, some major central bank have been less keen to follow suit.

In the end, monetary policy was not a cure for the disease and the impact was likely to get worse before it got better.

"As we test more folks for COVID-19 in the United States, the case loads will rise and perhaps exponentially. So in the short term, risk assets obviously remain beholden to COVID-19 headlines," Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.