US and European stocks rise after central banks intervene again

The Mexican peso has slumped about 30% against the dollar since a month ago, when Wall Street began to slide by about the same amount on pandemic fears.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 2.9%. Telecom stocks jumped 5% to lead gains while basic resources fell 0.4%.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 383.61 points, or 1.93%, to 20,282.53, the S&P 500 gained 34.05 points, or 1.42%, to 2,432.15 and the Nasdaq Composite added 229.81 points, or 3.29%, to 7,219.66.

MSCI’s world equity index gained 0.09%.

The stock market meltdown, triggered by worries over the coronavirus outbreak, has pushed Wall Street’s three main indexes down about 30% from their record closing highs last month and has almost erased the Dow Industrials’ gains since US President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

The dollar rose against a basket of six major currencies, striking a more than three-year high, as investors rushed to secure liquidity.

Source: businesslive.co.za