US stocks rallied on Thursday after the Federal Reserve delivered programs to support the economy during the shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% and surged 12.1% for the week – the biggest one-week gain since 1974. The U.S. stock market was closed Friday due to Good Friday. Wall Street’s weekly surge came amid some hopes that the situation around the coronavirus was improving, as the number of new confirmed cases has dropped both globally and in the U.S.
On Monday, Asian stocks came under the selling pressure despite the OPEC+ countries reached an agreement on a record oil production cut. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 2.33%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.88%, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.5%. Markets in Hong Kong and Australia were closed for Easter Monday.
OPEC and its allies finalized an agreement to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day. Despite that’s the single largest output cut in history, investors were unimpressed by the deal as the agreed efforts are not enough to compensate for the decline in global energy demand amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Brent crude briefly rose above $33 and resumed the decline, threatening the $31 handle already.
In other markets, the dollar is mixed against the majors. EURUSD failed to challenge the 50-DMA around 1.0970 and turned negative on the day. Should the local pressure intensify, the pair may threaten the 1.09 handle again. GBPUSD registered one-month highs above the 1.25 level earlier in the day but is already showing some signs of a waning upside momentum as the downside pressure surrounding the greenback has been easing. Once below 1.25, the pound could target 1.2450.
Meanwhile, gold prices keep rising after a fairly strong rally witnessed on Thursday. The bullion extended gains to $1,692 and may challenge the $1,700 psychological level should risk aversion intensify any time soon. A daily close above this figure will open the way to long-term highs.
