GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares gain as investors look to lockdown easing

* European stocks follow Asian shares higher
* Oil tumbles again as storage runs out
* Italian yields drop after rating maintained
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Tommy Wilkes
LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Stock markets rallied on Monday
as the Bank of Japan added more stimulus to cushion the impact
of the coronavirus and investors cheered news more countries
were easing lockdowns, though the oil price took another tumble
with storage running short.
The Bank of Japan matched market speculation by pledging to
buy unlimited amounts of government bonds and sharply raising
purchases of corporate and commercial debt, the latest in a raft
of vast central bank stimulus plans that have helped propel a
near 25% rally in global stock markets.
The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank meet later
in the week, with the latter likely to do more bond buying.
Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital
Markets, said while he expected both meetings to focus chiefly
on implementing current commitments, "there might well be
tweaks... to their various purchase and liquidity programmes".
The Euro STOXX 600 .STOXX rose 1.8%, following on from
decent gains on Asian markets. Germany's DAX .GDAXI rose
2.37%, France's CAC 40 .FCHI 1.93% and Britain's FTSE 100
.FTSE 1.66%.
Wall Street also looked set to open higher, with S&P futures
ESc1 0.7% ahead.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 countries, rose 0.78%. The index is now up 25% from
its low point on March 23, but is still some 22% off the highs
in February before panic over the virus caused markets to tank.
Around 173 companies in the S&P 500 will report earnings
this week, including Apple AAPL.O , Amazon AMZN.O , Facebook
FB.O , Microsoft MSFT.O , Caterpillar CAT.N , Ford F.N ,
General Electric GE.N and Chevron CVX.N .
Analysts expect a 15% decline in S&P 500 first-quarter
earnings, with profits for the energy sector estimated to have
slumped more than 60%, raising fears of debt defaults.
The United States and European Union both release
first-quarter economic growth numbers this week, while the U.S.
will also unveil the influential ISM survey on manufacturing.
But not everyone thinks the current crop of data is as
relevant for markets, which have recently shrugged off huge
rises in U.S. jobless claims to focus on how quickly economies
will rebound as government-imposed lockdowns are lifted.
"I don't know why people pay so much attention to today's
data. We know it's all bad. The new information will come in the
summer," said Stephen Jen, co-founder of hedge fund Eurizon SLJ
Capital.
He said the "tug of war" between those predicting a sharp
v-shaped rebound and those expecting a slower recovery would not
begin in earnest until May's data.
More U.S. states prepared to ease restrictions on commerce
this week despite health experts warning that there is still too
little testing in place, while some European countries further
eased their lockdowns. OIL DROPS, ITALY GETS REPRIEVE
Oil prices weakened sharply again and looked set for another
volatile week.
Crude prices have fallen in eight of the last nine weeks,
with U.S. crude even trading below zero last week as demand
collapsed due to the pandemic and supply cuts failed to keep up,
leaving more oil than could be stored. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 slid $2.29 to $14.65, while Brent crude
LCOc1 futures slipped $1.1 to $20.34 a barrel.
Italian government bond yields dropped between 14 and 17
basis points after S&P Global late Friday left the country's
credit rating in investment grade territory.
Investors had feared the ratings agency would cut
heavily-indebted Italy to 'junk'. Benchmark German 10-year bond yields DE10YT=RR were little
changed, while U.S. Treasury yields rose marginally US10YT=RR .
The U.S. dollar dipped as the broader upbeat mood encouraged
investors to move back into other currencies. The euro inched
higher to $1.0833 EUR= , while sterling gained 0.3% GBP= and
the Japanese yen a similar amount JPY= .

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