LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks inched up on Thursday on hopes for a massive joint stimulus fund to support the European Union during the coronavirus crisis and on an ongoing rebound in oil prices, while investors brushed off a slew of awful economic data.
European stocks and U.S. stock futures were trading marginally higher as an internal EU note showed the bloc’s commission was considering a plan worth 2 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion) to tackle a deep recession.
With all eyes glued on an EU meeting later in the day to discuss the measures, investors swept aside horrible data from the euro zone that showed economies have suffered massive blows from the coronavirus outbreak and measures to contain it.
The euro hit a one-month low, but the safe-haven dollar gained against major currencies.
The EU meeting comes a day after the U.S. Congress looked on course to approve nearly $500 billion more in coronavirus aid, taking the world’s biggest economy’s overall stimulus packages to nearly $3 trillion.
“(The) EU Council meeting will be closely watched to see how quickly EU policy makers will