GLOBAL MARKETS-World equity markets edge higher; oil plunges to 2002 lows

(Updates with midday U.S. trading)
By David Randall
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - Global equity benchmarks rose
on Monday despite a drop in oil prices to their lowest levels
since 2002, as central banks and the United States tried to
contain damage from the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has
upended the global economy.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday extended the
government's stay-at-home guidelines until the end of April,
dropping a sharply criticized plan to get the economy up and
running by mid-April after a top medical adviser said more than
100,000 Americans could die from the outbreak. JPMorgan now predicts that global gross domestic product
(GDP) - the total monetary value of all goods and services
produced - could contract at a 10.5% annualized rate in the
first half of the year. As a result, central banks have mounted
an all-out effort to bolster activity with interest rate cuts
and massive asset-buying campaigns, which have at least eased
liquidity strains in markets.
China on Monday became the latest to add stimulus, with a
cut of 20 basis points to a key reverse repo rate, the largest
in nearly five years. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 1.13% following broad gains in Europe and declines in
Asia.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 401.95 points, or 1.86%, to 22,038.73, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 55.27 points, or 2.17%, to 2,596.74 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 190.13 points, or 2.53%, to 7,692.51.
"I have been in this business almost 30 years and this is
the fastest correction I have seen," Swiss private bank Lombard
Odier's chief investment officer, Stephane Monier, said of this
year's plunge in global markets.
In oil markets, Brent futures LCOc1 were down 8%, or $2,
at $22.50 a barrel - their lowest in 18 years. U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 fell as far as $19.92,
near a 2002 low hit this month.
Investors continued to seek the perceived safety of bonds,
with bond yields falling in Europe and in the United States.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 31/32 in price to
yield 0.6477%, from 0.744% late on Friday.
The drop in yields has combined with efforts by the Federal
Reserve to pump more U.S. dollars into markets, dragging the
dollar off recent highs.
Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at National Australia
Bank (NAB), said the main question for markets was whether all
the stimulus would be enough to help the global economy
withstand the shock from the coronavirus pandemic.
"To answer this question, one needs to know the magnitude of
the containment measures and for how long they will be
implemented," he added.
"This is the big unknown, and it suggests markets are likely
to remain volatile until this uncertainty is resolved."

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