[ad_1]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Crude prices rose and a gauge of global equities broke out of a three-week trading range on Wednesday as investors bet on a rapid recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession.

FILE PHOTO: The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Staff

Oil prices climbed 3%-4% on signs of improving demand and a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, while a surge in Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) to record highs lifted the Nasdaq to within 5% of its all-time high.

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed and gold edged higher, but gains were limited as risk appetite improved.

The markets are expecting economic recovery sooner rather than later, though there is a risk the slowdown isn’t as temporary as some think, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.

“There’s a view that as the economy reopens there hasn’t been, so far, a resurgence in the hospitalization rates and that perhaps some of the ‘worst-ever’ data that we’ve seen will soon be behind us,” Arone said.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 1.40% to within 1 point of 500, after the benchmark was unable to climb past 495 the past three weeks.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.98% to close just shy of a three-week high, led by the tech, chemicals and energy sectors.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 381.62 points, or 1.58%, to 24,588.48. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 50.34 points, or 1.72%, to 2,973.28, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 185.64 points, or 2.02%, to 9,370.75.

Two-thirds of 223 fund managers surveyed by Bank of America reckon recent equity gains indicate a bear-market rally.

Federal Reserve policymakers re-upped a pledge to keep interest rates near zero until they are confident the U.S. economy is on track to recovery, a detailed summary of their most recent policy-setting meeting shows.

The 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR fell 2.8 basis points to yield 0.6834%.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 5 million barrels last week, Energy Information Administration data showed, while Cushing, Oklahoma, stocks dropped by 5.6 million barrels. [EIA/S]

U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose $1.53 to settle at $33.49 a barrel, while Brent LCOc1 gained $1.10 to settle at $35.75 a barrel.

The euro extended gains on Monday’s French-German proposal for a 500 billion euro common fund that could move Europe closer to a fiscal union.

The euro EUR= rose 0.59% to $1.0985 and the dollar index =USD fell 0.445%. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.22% versus the greenback at 107.50 per dollar.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled up 0.4% to $1,752.10 an ounce.

Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 here

Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Leslie Adler

[ad_2]

Source link

قالب وردپرس