GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks gain on stay-at-home profits, bond yields slide

(Adds U.S. market close)
* Amazon, Netflix hit records on stay-at-home profit hopes
* Oil little changed, U.S. crude holds at 18-year low

By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - World stock markets
edged higher on Thursday on surging shares of Netflix and
Amazon.com as investors anticipated big earnings from the
coronavirus-induced slowdowns keeping people at home, while bond
yields fell as data reflected record U.S. joblessness.
Equities markets seesawed for most of the session as dire
U.S. jobless claims data underscored a deep recession and tamped
down investor hopes the economy would soon be back on its feet.
A record 22 million Americans sought unemployment benefits
over the past month, with millions more filing claims last week
in a stark sign of how deep the economic slump caused by the
pandemic will be. Morgan Stanley MS.N Chief Executive James Gorman told
shareholders he "can promise" the bank will miss its medium-term
financial targets again this quarter, as the lockdowns will
continue to upend the global and U.S. economies. Morgan Stanley posted a 32% fall in quarterly profit and its
shares slid 0.3%.
Amazon AMZN.O and Netflix NFLX.O rose as sweeping
stay-at-home orders drove demand for online streaming services
and home delivery of goods.
With an "all-clear" nowhere in sight, seven U.S.
Northeastern states extended a shutdown to contain the pandemic
until May 15, even as President Donald Trump prepared to detail
his plan to open businesses in the least-affected states as
early as May 1. The dollar hit a one-week high and U.S. Treasury yields fell
for a third session as investors fled to safe-haven assets.
Investors are grappling with whether to be optimistic for
when economies pull out of recession or to wait for a
coronavirus vaccine and clear signs growth has fully recovered,
said Anthony Saglimbene, global market strategist at Ameriprise.
"The stock market is forward-looking and has discounted a
lot of some of the really bad economic and earnings numbers that
we're going to get for Q1 and Q2," Saglimbene said.
"It's really about 'When we do reopen, what's that curve
look like? Is it a 'V,' is it a 'U' or is it a 'W'?' Our view is
that it's going to be slow recovery," he said.
It may take a few years for U.S. economic activity to
rebound fully from the severe downturn caused by the coronavirus
pandemic, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams
said. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.14% and its emerging market stock index lost 0.37%.
On Wall Street, stocks gained. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI rose 33.33 points, or 0.14%, to 23,537.68. The
S&P 500 .SPX gained 16.19 points, or 0.58%, to 2,799.55 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 139.19 points, or 1.66%, to
8,532.36.
European shares rebounded, with the pan-European STOXX 600
index .STOXX up 0.58%.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose but West Texas
Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, settled flat, with official
data showing U.S. inventories surging to the most on record.
Investors had hoped that such a build-up may mean producers have
little option but to cut output as the coronavirus outbreak
ravages demand.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
expects global demand to contract by 6.9 million barrels per
day, or 6.9%, in 2020, it said in a monthly report. Last month,
OPEC expected a small increase of 60,000 bpd in demand.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 13 cents to settle at
$27.82 a barrel. U.S. WTI CLc1 settled flat at $19.87 a
barrel.
Speculation mounted that the European Central Bank was
looking to prevent further stress in the region's debt markets,
where debt-to-GDP looks set to top 150% this year. /FRX
GVD/EUR
"We have had this big wave of big announcements by
governments and central banks, and now we need to get into the
nitty gritty of how it all works," said Gilles Moec, AXA
Investment Managers chief economist.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR rose 8/32
in price to push their yield down to 0.6173%.
The dollar index =USD rose 0.438%, with the euro EUR= up
0.02% to $1.0837. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.02%
versus the greenback at 107.94 per dollar,
Policymakers are starting to allow stringent lockdowns to
ease, and firms are looking to restart. Germany is proposing
reopening schools and some retailers starting May 4.
German carmakers Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE and Mercedes-Benz
DAIGn.DE will restart production at some German factories next
week and in other countries a week later. Gold fell after climbing 1.3% as safe-haven demand weakened
after U.S. jobless claims rose less than they did a week ago and
hopes grew for an easing of coronavirus-led curbs.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled down 0.5% at $1,731.70 an
ounce.