LONDON (Reuters) – Stock markets rebounded from some of their recent huge losses on Friday, pulling further away from three-year lows as central banks and governments pledged masses of cash to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shares soared at the start of trading in Europe, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index jumping nearly 5%.
Britain’s FTSE rose 4%, Germany’s DAX gained 6%, and France’s CAC 40 gained 5.86%. Spanish stocks were up 3.8% and Italian stocks gained 3%.
MSCI’s All-Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, was up 1.5 %.
But in an indication of the deep damage inflicted on global equities from the pandemic so far, the index remains set to finish nearly 9% lower this week, adding to last week’s 11.1% plunge.
U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures also pointed to a brighter end to the week, adding 3.5%.
As the spread of the coronavirus brought much of the world to a halt, nations have poured ever-more massive amounts of stimulus into their economies while central banks have flooded markets with cheap dollars to ease funding strains.
The U.S. Senate was debating a $1 trillion-plus package that would include direct financial help for Americans, relief for small businesses and steps to stabilize the economy.
Sources told Reuters that China was set to unleash trillions of yuan of fiscal stimulus to revive an economy facing its first contraction in four decades, though on Friday the coun