· Wall Street closes with strong gains as recovery hopes offset pandemic fears
Wall Street surged on Thursday as investors weighed the prospect of economic recovery against bellicose remarks from President Donald Trump regarding U.S.-China trade and a whistleblower’s dire warnings about the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 377.37 points, or 1.62%, to 23,625.34, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 32.5 points, or 1.15%, to 2,852.5 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 80.55 points, or 0.91%, to 8,943.72.
While all three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session solidly higher, they see-sawed for much of the day, with reopening state economies and the possibility of additional stimulus doing battle with revived trade war fears and bleak economic data.
· Stock futures rise slightly after Thursday’s strong gains on Wall Street
U.S. stock futures rose slightly on Thursday night following a sharp rally during the regular session as investors awaited several key data sets.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 53 points, or 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures traded 0.1% higher. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.3%.
· European shares close 2% lower as coronavirus recovery hopes dwindle
European stocks fell sharply on Thursday with investors digesting an economic warning from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Chairman Jerome Powell, and hopes of an imminent end to the crisis fading.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 2.1% by the close, with autos plunging 2.9% to lead losses as all sectors and major bourses finished in negative territory.
· Asia markets higher as investors await China’s industrial production data
Stocks in Asia traded higher Friday morning, ahead of the release of Chinese economic data expected later in the day.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.15% while the Topix index added 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.26%.
Shares in Australia also saw gains, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.12%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.27% higher.
On the economic data front, China’s industrial production and fixed asset investment for April is set to be out at around 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN.
The data could provide further clues as to how quickly China, where the first cases of the coronavirus pandemic were reported, has managed to restart its economy following lockdown measures implemented earlier in the year.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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