Gold bars to be exempt from tariffs, White House clarifies
* Early signs of virus peaking in Europe, New York
* Wall Street ends lower in volatile trade
* World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Updates with U.S. stocks market close)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - World stock markets rose on
Tuesday led by gains in Europe and Asia as signs of progress in
curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus fueled investors'
appetite for risk, though a steep, late sell-off on Wall Street
erased gains in U.S. stocks.
Oil prices ended the day deep in the red as hopes of a deal
to decrease supply turned into uncertainty and a surge in crude
and gasoline stockpiles dragged prices down further.
The euro jumped against the greenback after six sessions of
declines. USD/
New York state, the U.S. epicenter of COVID-19, is nearing a
plateau in number of patients hospitalized, Governor Andrew
Cuomo said, a hopeful sign even as deaths in his state and
neighboring New Jersey hit single-day highs. Worldwide, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.3
million people and killed over 74,000, and although the numbers
are still rising in many highly populated countries, some
tentative improvements have given hope. "The rally is sentimental and a little premature because if
we lift these lockdown measures too soon and try to resume
economic activity, we're going to get a very severe pandemic
rebound," said Indranil Ghosh, chief executive officer of Tiger
Hill Capital in London.
The comment echoed that of the World Health Organization,
which warned earlier on Tuesday against easing coronavirus
measures too early. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 26.13 points,
or 0.12%, to 22,653.86, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.27 points, or
0.16%, to 2,659.41 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
25.98 points, or 0.33%, to 7,887.26.
The S&P closed near its lows of the session, giving up an
earlier gain of as much as 3.5%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.88% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.97%.
Emerging market stocks rose 2.85%. MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 2.53%
higher.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 posted a 2% gain overnight as its
government promised a near-$1 trillion stimulus package - equal
to a fifth of its gross domestic product. With market optimism on the rise, the U.S. dollar dropped
and riskier currencies outperformed as risk appetite improved on
hopes that lockdowns may be slowing the spread of the
coronavirus in some countries.
Action by central banks to ease a scramble for dollars has
also helped bring some calm to markets, with massive U.S.
stimulus programs and debt issuance seen weighing on the
greenback.
"We've got a nice decline in volatility across forex and
equity markets," said Kenneth Broux, FX strategist at Societe
Generale.
"We know central banks have done a very good job in
alleviating the strain in dollar markets and that's feeding
through."
The dollar index =USD , tracking the greenback against six
major currencies, fell 0.77%, with the euro EUR= up 0.9 to
$1.0889.
The Japanese yen rose 0.46% versus the greenback at 108.7
per dollar, while Sterling GBP= ended at $1.2337, up 0.88%.
OIL SLUMPS
Oil prices gave up early gains to fall sharply as hopes that
the world's biggest producers would agree to cut output were
overtaken by anxiety that a deal would not emerge. Data showing
crude stockpiles surged by much more than expected further
weighed on prices. U.S. crude CLc1 recently fell 6.98% to $24.26 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was at $32.50, down 1.66% on the day.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Global stock markets shaking off the virus https://reut.rs/3bVMQ0k
Coronavrus impact on global markets https://reut.rs/2V91s5N
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>