Stocks jump with US futures on easing coronavirus toll

Bloomberg

Stocks jumped in Europe and Asia alongside US equity futures after the reported death tolls in some of the world’s coronavirus hot spots showed signs of easing over the weekend. The dollar strengthened and Treasuries fell.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened solidly higher after Italy said it had the fewest deaths in more than two weeks, while France reported the lowest number in five days and Spain’s tally fell for the third day in a row. Contracts on the S&P 500 also rallied after New York state fatalities fell for the first time, though President Donald Trump warned that a “very horrendous” phase in the pandemic is approaching.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel but it’s still a long tunnel,” Erik Nielsen, UniCredit SpA’s London-based chief economist, wrote in a note Sunday.
Japan’s benchmark ended almost 4% higher even as that country moves closer to declaring a state of emergency. Shares in Hong Kong rose while Shanghai was closed for a holiday. The yen dropped along with Treasuries as haven demand receded. Crude oil pared a decline of as much as 11% though it remained lower as uncertainty swirled over a proposed meeting of the world’s top producers.
The pound fluctuated as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests after suffering from the coronavirus for 10 days.
Stocks ended down last week, trimming some of the prior week’s huge rally, after a plunge in US hiring hinted at the extent of the pandemic’s toll on the world’s biggest economy. The slump in payrolls only took in the damage from early March, with April’s figure expected to show more of the hit.
“We are still optimistic that the administration will be able to get this virus under control and reopen the economy by the end of April, early May,” Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said on Bloomberg TV. “If that does occur, it’s likely that we’re able to control the downturn from a depressionary scenario into a recessionary scenario.”