GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks jump to 3-month high as recovery hopes outweigh looming risks

* MSCI ACWI at 3-month high, up 36% from March trough
* Hopes of recovery from epidemic leads short-covering in
stocks
* U.S. yield curve steepens, 30-year yield above 1.5%
* European share futures up 1.3%
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Hideyuki Sano and David Henry
TOKYO/NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - Global shares vaulted to
a near three-month high on Wednesday as hopes of more stimulus
and further easing in social restrictions around the world
outweighed caution over a host of worries from the coronavirus
to growing U.S. civil unrest.
Pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 were up 1.27%
while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS gained 1.8%, extending its rally into a fifth
straight day to reach a level last seen on March 9.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.1% to its highest level since
late February, while mainland China's CSI300 .CSI300 rose 0.6%
to break above its May peak to a 12-week high. South Korea's
Kospi .KS11 gained more than 3%.
In those three East Asian countries, where the COVID-19 is
relatively contained, the indexes have recovered substantially
to be only about 5-6% below this year's peaks.
E-mini futures for the U.S. S&P 500 EScv1 were up 0.2% in
early Wednesday trade, extending the gains so far this week to
1.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index .IXIC has risen to be just
over 2% below February's record peak.
"The good times continue to roll in risk markets," Mazen
Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities, said in a report.
"As intense as the rally has been, this is likely set to
continue as the breadth of the equity rally has now spread
outside the U.S."
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose
0.3%, hitting a three-month high and extending the gain from its
March 23 low to almost 36%. Despite pandemic lockdowns that have
pushed many economies into contraction, the global index is down
year-to-date less than 8%.
There are some signs of recovery in business activity as
governments restart their economies.
In China, which managed to quash the outbreak by March, a
closely-watched survey of service sector activity CNPMIS=ECI
recovered to pre-epidemic levels in May. High-frequency data, such as restaurant bookings and
mobility data, shows activity is gradually recovering in many
developed countries after bottoming out in April, even though a
return to pre-epidemic levels still seems far-off.
Some analysts caution, however, that the rally is being
driven mostly by short-covering by speculators who had sold
stocks earlier on fears of a global recession.
Risks that could hobble the global economy include a second
wave of COVID-19 infections, Sino-U.S. tensions and rising
social unrest in the United States following protests against
policy brutality, they said.
"The gap between stock market and the real economy is
growing. Many corporate executives must be now wondering why
their companies' shares are rising so much," said Norihiro
Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities.
The U.S. Treasury yield curve steepened, partly reflecting
the sale of more government debt to finance massive stimulus
efforts.
The 30-year U.S. Treasuries yield rose to as high as 1.532%
US30YT=RR , its highest since mid-March.
However, expectations of central bank policy support kept
shorter yields in check, boosting the yield gap between 5- and
30-year Treasuries US5US30=TWEB to 118 basis points, the
highest since early 2017.
The European Central Bank is expected to ramp up stimulative
bond purchases when it meets on Thursday, while some think the
U.S. Federal Reserve could also enhance its easing with a few
key officials discussing yield curve control as an option.
In the currency market, economic optimism supported
risk-sensitive currencies and pushed down the U.S. dollar.
The Australian dollar rose as much as 1.2% to a five-month
high of $0.6982 AUD=D4 , while the euro ticked up 0.25% to
$1.1197 EUR= .
The safe-haven Japanese yen hit a two-month low of 108.85 to
the dollar before bouncing back to around 108.57 per dollar
JPY= .
Oil prices climbed more than 1% to a near three-month high
on optimism that major producers will extend production cuts.
O/R
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 gained 2.7%
to $37.81 per barrel and Brent crude LCOc1 rose 1.8% to $40.27
a barrel.
Spot gold XAU= traded almost flat at $1,723 per ounce.