Global stock markets continue to rise as economies reopen

| | Tokyo
  • 0

Global stock markets continue to rise as economies reopen

Thursday, 04 June 2020 | AP | Tokyo

Global stock markets rose Wednesday, extending  three days of gains, as more economies reopened from shutdowns they had imposed to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

 Asian indexes closed higher and European markets were up in midday trading, while Wall Street futures pointed to gains on the open in the US.

“The theme of reopening optimism has its stronghold on markets going into the midweek,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist for IG in Singapore. So far, the markets’ momentum has not been derailed by the wave of protests across the US.

That began last week in Minneapolis after a black man, George Floyd died with a Minneapolis police officer choking off his air. President Donald Trump has threatened to send troops to quell the unrest.

Investors appear to be focused instead on hopes that the worst of the pandemic downturn has passed, or will soon, as Governments slowly lift the restrictions that left broad swaths of their economies at a standstill beginning in March.

France’s CAC 40 was up 1.8 per cent to 4,947, while Germany’s DAX gained 2.2 per cent to 12,288. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1 per cent to 6,290. The futures for the Dow industrials were up 0.7 per cent  and those for the S&P 500 picked up 0.4 per cent.

Economic data in Europe was mixed, with a small increase in unemployment due both to Governments’ efforts to keep workers on payrolls as well as a drop out of the labor market by discouraged jobseekers.

The rate edged up to just 7.3 per cent in April, the first full month when pandemic lockdowns hit the continent, from 7.1 per cent in March.

The US jobless rate was near 15 per cent that month and is expected to hit almost 20 per cent when the May figures are released on Friday.

Payroll processor ADP is due to issue its May survey of hiring by private US companies on Wednesday.

The Government’s weekly tally of applications for unemployment aid, meanwhile, comes on Thursday.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda