Gold bars to be exempt from tariffs, White House clarifies
(Updates through close of U.S. market)
By David Randall and David Henry
NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Most major stock markets
edged up slightly in mixed markets on Thursday as investors
weighed a rebound in oil prices and prospects for further
government stimulus against stark economic data showing the toll
of the coronavirus pandemic.
Investors tilted toward emerging markets from safe-haven
assets like the dollar and government bonds. Gold prices jumped
as much as 1.5% to top a one-week high on hopes for the impact
of stimulus spending. Major U.S. indexes initially rose after news that U.S.
jobless claims fell to 4.4 million, a decline from 5.2 million
the week before, but still about 200,000 more than expected. A
record 26 million Americans, representing 16% of the labor
force, have sought unemployment benefits since March
21. "The market is ignoring all the weak data so far, it's
priced in," said Priya Misra, head of global rates strategy for
TD Securities.
"We have moved ahead from the second quarter being awful,"
Misra said, adding that market participants were turning toward
the outlook for the third and fourth quarters.
A discouraging report at midday that Gilead Sciences
experimental coronavirus drug flopped in its first randomized
clinical trial cooled initial optimism that had major U.S.
indexes up more than 1%. Oil soared after oil-producing nations said they would
accelerate production to counter the oversupply that caused
record plunges early this week. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 23.66% to $17.04 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was at $21.73, up 6.68% on the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 39.44 points,
or 0.17%, to 23,515.26. But the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.51 points,
or 0.05%, to 2,797.8 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
0.63 point, or 0.01%, to 8,494.75.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.94% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.21%. The dollar index =USD , tracking the unit against six major
peers, rose 0.03%, with the euro EUR= down 0.42% at $1.0777.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR were up
and down in modest swings. The notes rose 8/32 in price to yield
0.5952%, down from 0.619% late on Wednesday.
Riskier emerging market stocks rose 0.19%. MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
closed 0.29% higher, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.52%.
Spot gold XAU= added 1.0% to $1,730.50 an ounce. U.S. gold
futures GCc1 gained 0.73% to $1,733.30 an ounce.
Investors expected the U.S. House of Representatives to pass
legislation on Thursday to authorize another $484 billion for
coronavirus relief, pushing the total crisis spending near an
unprecedented $3 trillion. European Union leaders similarly added hope for the future.
Some 27 leaders convened by video conference to consider
adopting a bigger common budget, grants to stricken economies
and joint bond sales to finance recovery from the pandemic.
Investors are anxious to see "how quickly EU policy-makers
will move towards area-wide fiscal risk-sharing," said George
Cole, an economist at Goldman Sachs.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>