Stocks surge on bets central banks to take action
U.S. stocks surged as investors gained confidence that stewards of the world's largest economies would act in concert to offset any impact from the spreading coronavirus.
The S&P 500 jumped the most in a year after news that Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers will hold a teleconference Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the outbreak. Tech shares led gains after seven straight days of declines for the benchmark index, with monetary policy makers from Japan to England joining the Federal Reserve in promising to take action to support their economies if needed.
Ten-year Treasury yields plunged below 1.10% as expectations for interest-rate cuts took old. Oil rallied on expectations that the OPEC+ alliance will deepen output cuts.
The stock gains provided hope for investors after last week's nearly unprecedented rout, even as the S&P 500 Index traded more than 10% below the record it reached just two weeks ago. The coronavirus has already done severe economic damage -- with the OECD warning that growth will sink to levels not seen in more than a decade -- but investors are betting that policy makers will take decisive action to limit the pain.
"Markets are already looking beyond the first half, looking toward the second half to see whether or not we get a recovery in demand," said Anik Sen, global head of equities at PineBridge Investments, which has about $101 billion in assets under management. "We're finding stocks at much more reasonable levels than they have been."
The global death toll from the virus has surpassed 3,000. U.S. cases climbed over the weekend, with the first infections appearing in New York City, Brussels and Berlin, while cases jumped in hot spots of Italy, Iran and South Korea. Positive tests in Italy jumped by more than 500 to 1,694 on Sunday with 41 deaths. Lombardy, the region that includes the financial capital of Milan, accounted for almost 1,000 cases.
Here are some key events coming up:
Trump is set to meet with pharmaceutical industry executives at 2 p.m. Monday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia sets policy on Tuesday.
U.S. citizens in states including California and Texas will vote on "Super Tuesday" for a Democratic candidate to run against President Donald Trump in November's election.
The Bank of Canada has a rate decision on Wednesday.
OPEC ministers gather in Vienna on March 5-6.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index rose 2.2% as of 1:19 p.m. New York time.
The Nasdaq 100 Index advanced 2.5%.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1%.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.9%.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
The euro increased 1.4% to $1.1178.
The British pound slid 0.2% to $1.280.
The Japanese yen rose 0.2% at 107.72 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased seven basis points to 1.08%.
The yield on two-year Treasuries dipped 11 basis points to 0.81%.
Germany's 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.63%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 4.6% to $46.83 a barrel.
Gold rose 0.6% to $1,595.94 an ounce.