Powell’s speech, Nvidia’s chips, Meta deal - what’s moving markets
* Equity investors focus on slowdown in COVID-19 deaths
* Oil prices fall after Russia-Saudi Arabia delay meeting
* British pound skids as PM Johnson admitted in hospital
By Swati Pandey and Paulina Duran
SYDNEY, April 6 (Reuters) - Stocks jumped on Monday as
investors were encouraged by a slowdown in coronavirus-related
deaths and new cases, while oil prices skidded after
Saudi-Russian negotiations to cut output were delayed, keeping
oversupply concerns alive.
Equity investors took solace as the death toll from the
coronavirus slowed across major European nations including
France and Italy. U.S. stock futures ESc1 rose 4% in Asian hours, trading
close to its upper limit after U.S. President Donald Trump
expressed hope the country was seeing a "levelling off" of the
coronavirus crisis. London's FTSE .FTSE was up 3.2% in early trading, while
Germany's DAX index .GDAXI was 4% higher.
"The stabilisation we are seeing in the market today is
welcomed but it is something really fragile," said Frank
Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale.
In commodity markets, Brent crude LCOc1 fell as much as $4
after Saudi Arabia and Russia postponed their meeting, initially
scheduled for Monday, to Thursday even as the virus pandemic
pummels demand.
"With a very light calendar globally today, there is enough
momentum to keep the equity rally running through the course of
the day and also into European time," said Jeffrey Halley,
Senior Market Analyst, Asia Pacific, OANDA.
"All bets are off after that although I could see a couple
of days of positive sentiment ahead, especially if those
mortality rates keep falling."
In currency markets, sterling GBP= fell 0.06% in Asia
after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to
hospital following persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after
testing positive for the virus. In Asia, Australia's benchmark index .AXJO rose 4.33%;
Japan's Nikkei added 4.24% .N225 after a slow start while
South Korea's KOSPI index .KS11 climbed 3.85%. Hong Kong's
Hang Seng index .HSI was 2.18% higher.
That sent MSCI's broadest index of Asian shares outside of
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up almost 2.03%, on track for its best
performance in over a week.
Markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.
Worryingly, the number of new coronavirus cases jumped in
China on Sunday while the number of asymptomatic cases surged
too as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak
despite drastic containment efforts.
"Focus in markets will now turn to the path out of lockdown
and to what extent containment measures can be lifted without
risking a second wave of infections," National Australia Bank
analyst Tapas Strickland wrote in a note.
"Key to a strong rebound in China will be the ongoing
lifting of containment measures with Wuhan – the epicentre of
the outbreak – set to lift containment measures on April 8."
Strickland, however, noted many in China were still subject
to social distancing and isolation restrictions to prevent a
resurgence in infections.
The pandemic has claimed more than 68,000 lives and infected
over a million people globally. The United States has the
highest number of reported cases, at over 300,000. Concerns about heavy damage to the global economy have
pushed investors into the perceived safety of government bonds
where yields are at or near all-time lows. US/
"One of the major concerns of markets at the moment is the
extent and the soundness of the recovery in production that we
are seeing in China and other Asian countries," SocGen's
Benzimra added.
Elsewhere in currencies, the dollar gained 0.4% against the
yen to 108.93. JPY= . FRX/
The euro EUR= was barely moved at $1.0819 while the risk
sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 was up 0.6% at $0.6037. The
pound was last down 0.02% at $1.2266.
In commodities, Brent crude futures LCOc1 was down nearly
1.23%, or 42 cents, at $33.69 a barrel while U.S. crude CLc1
slipped 1.83%, or 52 cents, to $27.82. O/R
Spot gold XAU= added 0.54% to $1,625.2 an ounce.
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(Editing by Himani Sarkar and Christian Schmollinger)