(There will be no European stock market report on Friday and
Monday on account of Easter holidays. Reuters will resume
coverage on Tuesday, April 14)
* U.S. Fed rolls out $2.3 trillion programme
* EU close to agreeing on stimulus package - Germany
* Travel and leisure lead gains
* Energy stocks jump on hopes of oil production cut
* World's biggest spirits maker Diageo pulls sales forecast
(Updates to close)
By Susan Mathew and Sagarika Jaisinghani
April 9 (Reuters) - European stock markets gained for a
fourth straight day on Thursday with sentiment propped up by the
latest round of stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve and on
hopes the coronavirus pandemic was close to peaking.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed up 1.6% to
end a holiday-shortened week 7.4% higher – its best week since
2011. London's FTSE .FTSE led the charge among European
majors, up 2.9%.
Sentiment was buoyed by data showing France's coronavirus
hospital deaths slowed and Spain's new cases eased, but the main
lift of the session came as Wall Street indexes jumped after the
Fed rolled out a $2.3 trillion program to bolster local
governments and businesses. .N
That overshadowed data showing another week with over 6
million new U.S. jobless claims.
"The Fed will buy riskier debt and that should keep this
V-shaped rebound going a little longer," said Edward Moya,
senior market analyst at OANDA New York.
"The Fed has shown the markets they are doing whatever it
takes for the economy."
All eyes were on the fate of a multi-billion euro programme
that European Union finance ministers have been struggling to
agree on this week. Eurogroup chairman Mario Centeno said the
ministers are close to overcoming differences. All major European sectors rose, with the travel and leisure
sector .SXTP - worst impacted by the pandemic - leading gains
for yet another day. The sector added 24.5% this week, helping
reduce yearly losses to 36%.
Cineworld CINE.L topped the pan-region index, soaring 27%.
Shares of the cinema chain have been on the rise since it
announced cost cuts earlier this week.
Keeping oil stocks .SXEP afloat, crude prices gained after
sources said Russia and Saudi Arabia have a new deal to cut oil
output drastically in response to a collapse in global demand
from the coronavirus. O/R
The energy index has recouped nearly half of its value
following a collapse crash in oil prices, triggered by a
Saudi-Russia price war.
"The worst-case scenario, where OPEC and its previous allies
fail to commit to production cuts, would be disastrous for
oil-producing economies (and) would see both (oil) benchmarks
test a single-digit number," said Hussein Sayed, a market
strategist at FXTM.
The STOXX 600 benchmark index has earned back about $1.7
trillion in market value since hitting an eight-year low in
March, but remains nearly 23% below its record high as sweeping
lockdown measures crush business activity and spark mass
layoffs.
Global stock markets have also gained ground this week,
partly helped by historic fiscal and monetary stimulus to
cushion the economic blow of the health crisis. MKTS/GLOB
The French government more than doubled the expected cost of
its crisis response measures, pushing the budget deficit and
national debt to record levels. France's main index .FCHI was
up 1.2%. With major European firms withdrawing financial forecasts
and making dramatic efforts to save cash, analysts expect an
earnings recession to deepen in 2020 with a 15.7% slide in the
first quarter and 30.2% in the second.
Diageo Plc DGE.L , the world's largest spirits maker,
became the latest firm to pull its sales forecast and suspend a
capital return plan in a bid to shore up cash. But its shares
gained 4.4% after shedding almost a fifth of their value this
year.
Europe's most valuable tech firm SAP SE SAPG.DE rose 4.8%
despite cutting its full-year earnings forecast as the pandemic
caused customers to put orders on hold.
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