GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares jump on coronavirus drug hopes, oil surges

* MSCI global stock index up over 2%
* Gilead: remdesivir trials show improvement for COVID-19
patients
* Wall Street rises; Alphabet, Boeing gain after results
* Oil jumps after U.S. crude inventories rise less than
feared
* Fed leaves rates near zero, sees virus risks lingering

(Updates with Fed decision, afternoon trading)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - World stock markets surged on
Wednesday following encouraging news for an experimental
COVID-19 treatment and some positive earnings reports, while
beaten-up oil prices soared.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 2.47%. Major U.S. averages were up well over 2%, while
the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.75%.
A top U.S. health official said Gilead Sciences Inc 's
GILD.O antiviral drug remdesivir is likely to become the
standard of care for COVID-19 after early results from a
clinical trial showed it helped certain patients recover more
quickly from the illness caused by the coronavirus. The development of treatments for the virus has been seen by
strategists as critical as they could help countries emerge from
self-imposed lockdowns aimed at curbing the outbreak that have
crippled economies.
Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy contracted in the
first quarter at its sharpest pace since the Great Recession,
falling at a 4.8% annualized rate. "While we wait for a vaccine, we are looking out for
anything that will help us get back into society, and we're all
hanging on this data on a day-by-day basis," said Linda Duessel,
senior equity strategist at Federated Hermes in Pittsburgh.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates near zero and
repeated a vow to do what it takes to shore up the U.S. economy
amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic that will not only "weigh
heavily" on the near-term outlook but poses "considerable risks"
for the medium term as well. "The more significant comment is that the FOMC is concerned
about the downside risk to the economic outlook over the medium
term, suggesting they will remain extraordinarily accommodative
in policy for several years to come," said Guy LeBas, chief
fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in
Philadelphia
Wall Street's main indexes pared gains slightly after the
Fed decision, but were still sharply higher. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI rose 609.64 points, or 2.53%, to
24,711.19, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 83.34 points, or 2.91%, to
2,946.73 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 315.80 points,
or 3.67%, to 8,923.53.
As the heart of first-quarter corporate results season
arrives, Google parent Alphabet's GOOGL.O shares jumped 9.7%
after the company said a drop in Google ad sales steadied in
April, with shares of other tech titans also rallying. Boeing
BA.N shares rose 8.7% after the planemaker's report.
In Europe, shares of automakers .SXAP were lifted after
German carmaker Daimler DAIGn.DE forecast operating profit at
its Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans division above the prior-year
level and rival Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE said it expected to be
profitable on a full-year basis. Investors across the world are growing confident the
COVID-19 pandemic may be peaking as parts of the United States,
Europe and Australia gradually ease restrictions. New Zealand
this week allowed some businesses to reopen.
Oil prices surged after U.S. crude stockpiles grew less than
expected and gasoline posted a surprise draw, adding to optimism
for an improvement in demand as some European countries and U.S.
cities move to ease coronavirus lockdowns. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
settled at $15.06 a barrel, jumping $2.72, or 22%. Brent crude
futures LCOc1 settled at $22.54 a barrel, up $2.08, or 10.2%.
In currencies, the dollar index, tracking the greenback
against six major peers =USD , fell 0.341%, with the euro
EUR= up 0.55% to $1.0877.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 6/32 in
price to yield 0.6285%, down from 0.61% late on Tuesday.

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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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