Global stocks rally after last week's rout on central bank policy hopes

MSCI's broadest index of world shares rose for the first time in eight sessions, with U.S. stocks rising more than 2%. The MSCI index gained 3.06% and emerging market stocks rose 1.14%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,293.96 points, or 5.09%, to 26,703.32. The S&P 500 gained 136.01 points, or 4.60%, to 3,090.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 384.80 points, or 4.49%, to 8,952.17. In Europe, shares edged higher at the close after seesawing for most of the session. The broad STOXX 600 index rose 0.09%. The FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> closed up 1.13%.

NEW YORK/LONDON: Equity markets around the world rose on Monday as speculation that central banks will cut interest rates to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus heartened investors and drove U.S. government debt yields to record lows.

Factories took a beating in February from the new coronavirus, with activity in China shrinking at a record pace and U.S. manufacturing slowing, raising the prospect of a coordinated policy response by central banks to prevent a global recession.