GLOBAL MARKETS-Global stocks gain on hopes pandemic is nearing peak

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* European shares open higher
* U.S. stock futures flat
* Oil prices gain on hopes output will be cut

By Ritvik Carvalho
LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Thursday
on hopes the COVID-19 pandemic was nearing a peak and that
governments would roll out more stimulus to support their
economies, while expectations of a deal to cut oil production
bolstered crude prices.
European stock markets gained for a fourth straight day,
with investor attention also focused on a meeting of euro zone
finance ministers to discuss an economic rescue package.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 0.5% by
midday in London, with battered travel and leisure stocks,
autos, and mining companies leading early gains. .EU
MSCI's All-Country World Index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares across 49 countries, was up 0.3% to its highest since
March 12.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 were flat after bouncing in and
out of positive territory in European trading.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.56%, following a strong
Wall Street close.
Shares in China .CSI300 , where the novel coronavirus first
emerged late last year, rose 0.42%. Australian shares .AXJO
were up 2.54%.
"Sentiment remains volatile, but investors appear to be
looking through the growing headline numbers of COVID-19 cases
and focusing on signs that the spread of the pandemic is being
brought under control, which in turn is underpinning hopes for a
relatively swift relaxation of containment measures," said Mark
Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth
Management.
Oil prices LCOc1 extended gains on hopes major producers
would agree to cut output when they met later in the day in
response to a collapse in global oil demand. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state's efforts at
social distancing were working in getting the virus under
control in one of the biggest hot spots in the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the
U.S. economy with a "big bang" but that the death toll from the
coronavirus first needs to be heading down. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.41% on Wednesday, helped by
hopes the pandemic was nearing its peak.
The Trump administration has asked lawmakers for an
additional $250 billion in aid for small U.S. businesses.
However, congressional efforts were stalling as Democrats held
out for similar amounts of aid for hospitals and local
governments. While Trump's optimism helped stoke Wall Street's rally,
recent U.S. data and forecasts are only now beginning to reflect
the economic damage.
McDonald's Corp MCD.N said global comparable sales tumbled
22.2% in March, while Starbucks Corp SBUX.O forecast a 47%
drop in second-quarter earnings. Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 bucked the regional trend
and fell 0.46% as coronavirus infections in the country rose.
Markets were also jittery following the government's declaration
of a state of emergency for Tokyo and other urban areas.
The coronavirus has spread rapidly across the globe,
infecting more than 1.4 million people and causing more than
87,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new virus emerged late
last year, ended its more-than two-month lockdown on Wednesday,
but many governments around the world remain nervous about the
pace of infections and deaths. The euro gained against the dollar EUR=D3 on hopes euro
zone finance ministers would agree on more support for their
coronavirus-hit economies. The pandemic is still infecting and killing large numbers of
people across Europe and there is no sign the peak of the
region's outbreak has been reached, the EU's disease monitoring
agency said. Sterling GBP=D3 held onto gains versus the dollar. Helping
confidence was news British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
condition was improving. Johnson, who was diagnosed with
COVID-19 late in March, was taken to intensive care two days ago
after his condition deteriorated. Against a basket of its peers, the dollar fell 0.04%. =USD
U.S. crude CLc1 rose 7.45% to $26.96 a barrel. Brent crude
LCOc1 rose 4.69% to $34.38 per barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
its allies, including Russia - a group known as OPEC+ - are set
to convene a video conference meeting on Thursday.
Hopes of an agreement to cut 10 million to 15 million
barrels per day rose after media reports suggested Russia was
ready to reduce its output by 1.6 million bpd. O/R

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