* Italy, some U.S. states prepare to relax lockdown
* Oil tumbles again as storage concerns linger
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Updates prices, changes comment)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Global stock markets rose on
Monday as investors cheered news that more countries and U.S.
states were looking to ease lockdowns and the Bank of Japan
expanded its stimulus program, while the price of oil continued
to crumble as storage runs out.
U.S. energy stocks .SPNY underperformed the wider market
but were still up in New York despite a nearly 25% decline in
U.S. crude prices.
The U.S. dollar fell as risk-prone traders cheered lockdown
news even as health experts warned that not enough coronavirus
testing was in place in the United States. From Italy to New
Zealand, governments announced the easing of restrictions, while
Britain said it was too early to relax them there. The Bank of Japan kicked off a week of central bank meetings
by pledging to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds,
continuing a trend of historic stimulus announcements to offset
the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank meet
later in the week, with the ECB expected to increase the size of
its bond buying program.
"There will certainly be a tsunami of negative news that
will come crashing down on markets and investors. That is
consensus. We have that assumption baked in," said Art Hogan,
chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.
"What we don't know is what the world looks like on the
other side of this, and how much of the potential economic
damage will be mitigated by the historic policy response."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 288.2 points, or
1.21%, to 24,063.47, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 38.57 points, or
1.36%, to 2,875.31 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 103.99
points, or 1.2%, to 8,738.51.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.77% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
1.64%.
After more than a month of lockdowns, some countries and
U.S. states are gradually moving to ease restrictions that have
in some cases proven effective, believing the peak of the virus
infection rate has passed.
Although trillions of dollars in stimulus have helped the
S&P 500 recover nearly 30% from its March lows, some analysts
say more gains may be capped as the economic damage grows,
unless there is progress on treatments for the disease.
"There are so many things that can go wrong in the next six
months," said Marc Chaikin, founder of Chaikin Analytics in
Philadelphia, adding that "history suggests that bear markets
end with a whimper and not a bang."
Emerging market stocks rose 1.75%. MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 1.87%
higher, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 2.71%.
OIL DROPS FURTHER
Oil prices weakened sharply on continued concern about
oversupply and a lack of storage space. The front-month contract
was trading at lower-than-usual volumes as traders moved to
later months in futures' contracts.
"The market is very concerned about a repeat of negative
pricing as the Cushing storage and delivery hub saturates,"
Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas in
London, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.
"The shift of open interest away from June will have
negative consequences for the liquidity of the contract,
potentially leading to greater volatility in its price," he
said.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 26.21% to $12.50 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was at $19.56, down 8.77% on the day.
The U.S. dollar dropped as the broader upbeat mood
encouraged investors to move into other currencies.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.09%, with the euro EUR=
unchanged at $1.082.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.25% versus the greenback at
107.31 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at
$1.2401, up 0.27% on the day.
Bucking the trend, the Brazilian real BRL= was on track to
close at a record low against the greenback.
U.S. Treasury yields rose, with the benchmark 10-year note
US10YT=RR last down 17/32 in price to yield 0.6478%, from
0.596% late on Friday.
The 2-year note US2YT=RR last fell 1/32 in price to yield
0.2243%, from 0.216%.
Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.9% to $1,711.26 an ounce.
The United States and European Union both release
first-quarter economic growth numbers this week, while the
influential U.S. ISM manufacturing survey is also due.
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