GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rebound further as markets await $2 trillion U.S. stimulus boost

(Adds oil settlement prices, details)
* MSCI world index adds to biggest climb since 2008 crisis
* Wall Street also on track for back-to-back gains
* Gold retain most of advance after big jump
* Dollar slips as markets wait for U.S. stimulus package
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - The dollar slid and
global equity markets marched higher on Wednesday, poised for a
second day of gains on optimism $2 trillion in U.S. fiscal
stimulus will dampen the economic shock the coronavirus pandemic
already has started to inflict.
U.S. senators will vote Wednesday. Top aides to Republican
President Donald Trump and senior Republican and Democrat
senators agreed on the unprecedented bill after five days of
marathon talks.
Hopes the bill, which is nearly half the $4.7 trillion the
U.S. government spends annually, will ease an expected recession
lifted world stock indexes .MIWD00000PUS for back-to-back
gains for the first time since markets sold off a month ago.
Europe's main markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris were
struggling to stay positive after ripping 4%-5% higher and oil
prices swung from 3% up to 3% down. Wall Street also teetered
though it mostly remained more than 1% higher. .EU .T .N
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI soared more than 11%
on Tuesday in its biggest single-day percentage gain since 1933
and the benchmark S&P 500 jumped 9.4% - its tenth best day on
record out of 24,067 trading sessions since a daily data series
started in 1927.
The stimulus package marks progress but the devil's in the
details, said Ron Temple, head of U.S. equity at Lazard Asset
Management in New York. The legislation is not available to read
to know how it will be executed or when money arrives at
households and small businesses gain access to funding, he said.
"This is not the all-clear; it's just material progress,"
Temple said.
"Until we know we can go back to work safely, that we can go
to restaurants and go to stores and engage with other humans in
close proximity, I don't think you can make an economic or a
market call. It's premature to be trying to call the bottom."
The stimulus includes a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit
industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to
$3,000 apiece to millions of U.S. families. It will also include $350 billion for small-business loans,
$250 billion for expanded unemployment aid and at least $100
billion for hospitals and related health systems.
Countries that have locked down their populations to prevent
the spread of the coronavirus need to use the time to find and
attack the virus, the World Health Organization said.
As the United States works to screen thousands for the
coronavirus, a new blood test offers the chance to find out who
may have immunity - a potential game changer in the battle to
contain infections and get the economy back on track.
Over 450,000 people have been infected globally and more
than 20,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Data on Wednesday pointed to a fast-slowing economy that
analysts said signaled the United States already is in
recession. New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods fell sharply in
February as demand for machinery and other products slumped,
suggesting a deepening contraction in business investment.
The benchmark S&P 500 is still nearly $8 trillion below its
mid-February high, and investors expect more sharp swings. Wall
Street's fear gauge .VIX eased overnight but was on the rise
again ahead of Wednesday's open. .N
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
surged 2.65% and emerging market stocks rose 4.32%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.96%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 661.9 points,
or 3.2%, to 21,366.81. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 35.76 points,
or 1.46%, to 2,483.09 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
34.47 points, or 0.46%, to 7,452.33.
In the currency markets, the dollar slipped for a third
straight session as a scramble for liquidity was soothed by the
super-sized U.S. stimulus plan, though it was starting to look a
little stronger again. /FRX
The dollar index =USD fell 0.216%, with the euro EUR= up
0.44% to $1.0834. The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.24% versus
the greenback at 111.51 per dollar.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 jumped over
the 60-U.S. cent mark for the first time in a week.
Bond markets were also calmer. Benchmark U.S. Treasuries
were yielding 0.7987% while in Europe Germany's 10-year yield
DE10YT=RR edged a basis point higher to -0.296%, tailed by
other higher-rated government debt. NL10YT=RR , AT10YT=RR
European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde asked euro
zone finance ministers during a videoconference on Tuesday to
seriously consider a one-off joint debt issue of "coronabonds",
officials told Reuters. In metals markets, gold changed hands at $1,608.78 an ounce
XAU= , retaining most of Tuesday's gains of almost 5%, its
biggest jump since 2008.
U.S. crude prices rose slightly, bolstered by progress on a
massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package.
Brent crude LCOc1 gained 24 cents to settle at $27.39 a
barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 futures rose 48 cents to settle at
$24.49 a barrel.

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GRAPHIC-Global equities post first back-to-back gain during
virus sell-off https://reut.rs/2UvW8ct
'Help is on the way,' but timing uncertain on $2 trillion Senate
coronavirus aid vote ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>