(Adds gold, oil settlement prices)
* Nasdaq within 5% of all-time high on Amazon, Facebook
records
* Oil, equity markets rise on recovery hopes
* Euro gains on French-German plan for recovery fund
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, May 20 (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.
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 .STOXX 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.
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