GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks up on $2 trillion stimulus Wall St rally; dollar takes a hit

* U.S. stimulus bill clears Senate; Fed's Powell speaks to
Main St
* U.S. jobs claims spike to a record 3.3 million
* Yen firms, EM currencies catch a break
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Updates prices, adds U.S. data, adds byline, dateline)
By Rodrigo Campos and Tom Wilson
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - A Wall Street rally
powered global gains in stocks on Thursday despite a record
number of new unemployment filings in the United States, as
traders focused on the unanimous passage of a $2 trillion
coronavirus relief bill in the U.S. Senate and the possibility
that there is more stimulus to come.
The legislation is intended to flood the country with cash
in a bid to stem the crushing impact the epidemic has already
had on the world's largest economy. Nearly 3.3 million Americans
filed for unemployment benefits over the past week, eclipsing
the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982. The bill is heading
for the House of Representatives for a vote on
Friday. "In less than two weeks, we have moved from full employment
to a number of job destruction we have never experienced in a
period of peace," wrote Christopher Dembik, head of macro
analysis at Saxo Bank.
Earlier on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
said the U.S. economy is likely in recession already but that
reopening businesses should be dictated by the control of the
virus' spread, in contrast to the urging by some of President
Donald Trump's advisers for a faster reopening. The president
himself has said he wants the economy to be “roaring” by Easter,
in a little over two weeks.
Mnuchin said the central bank would lend "aggressively" to
ensure the economy can withstand the sudden sharp drop in
activity, with an expected $424 billion commitment from the U.S.
Treasury to cover any losses, allowing the Fed to unleash
perhaps $4 trillion for credit to "Main Street." The astronomical number of jobless filings left some
wondering if the stimulus package, despite its size, would be
enough.
"If these numbers continue for three or four weeks, there
will be demand for more fiscal support," said Quincy Krosby,
chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New
Jersey.
She said the stock market reaction would suggest "that
market participants expect a larger stimulus package or fiscal
package from the government than the $2 trillion that has been
agreed upon."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 1,115.19
points, or 5.26%, to 22,315.74, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 118.5
points, or 4.79%, to 2,594.06 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
added 303.84 points, or 4.11%, to 7,688.13.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.66% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
3.56%.
Global markets have lost about a quarter of their value in
the last six weeks of virus-driven selling.
While markets have found a measure of sustenance as
governments and central banks launch unprecedented support
measures, investors have struggled to work out how bad the
coronavirus impact would be.
"No-one is sure how long things are going to be locked down
for, how wide the virus will spread in the U.S., what the death
toll and hit on the economy will look like," said Salman Baig,
portfolio manager at Unigestion.
The combination of the massive jobless claims and stimulus
dragged the dollar lower.
The dollar index =USD fell 1.222%, with the euro EUR= up
1.19% to $1.101.
The Japanese yen strengthened 1.52% versus the greenback at
109.57 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at
$1.2075, up 1.60% on the day.
“Although the latest Fed measures have helped calm markets,
as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues and the world economy
is effectively in lockdown, we would expect markets to remain in
turmoil,” foreign exchange analysts at Bank of America said in a
report on Thursday.
The softer greenback buoyed emerging market currencies, with
MSCI's index .MIEM00000CUS touching a one-week high.
EMRG/FRX
Oil fell as fears of plunging demand outweighed expectations
of support from the U.S. stimulus.
U.S. crude CLc1 recently fell 4.08% to $23.49 per barrel
and Brent LCOc1 was recently at $27.16, down 0.84% on the day.
Prices on U.S. Treasury bonds rose but yields traded
relatively tightly and within the week's range, suggesting the
market had already priced in expectations for abysmal data.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 14/32 in price
to yield 0.8128%, from 0.856% late on Wednesday. The 30-year
bond US30YT=RR last rose 43/32 in price to yield 1.37%, from
1.421% late on Wednesday.