NEW YORK -- World stock markets rose on Tuesday led by gains in Europe and Asia as signs of progress in curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus fueled investors' appetite for risk, though a steep, late sell-off on Wall Street erased gains in US stocks.
"The rally is sentimental and a little premature because if we lift these lockdown measures too soon and try to resume economic activity, we're going to get a very severe pandemic rebound," said Indranil Ghosh, chief executive officer of Tiger Hill Capital in London. Emerging market stocks rose 2.85 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 2.53 percent higher.
Action by central banks to ease a scramble for dollars has also helped bring some calm to markets, with massive US stimulus programs and debt issuance seen weighing on the greenback. The dollar index, tracking the greenback against 6 major currencies, fell 0.77 percent, with the euro up 0.9 to $1.0889.