Shares gain as investors look to lockdown easing

Stock markets rallied on Monday as the Bank of Japan added more stimulus to cushion the impact of the coronavirus and investors cheered news more countries were easing lockdowns, though the oil price took another tumble with storage running short.

Ciara Lee reports

Stock markets rallied Monday (April 27) on signs more countries were easing lockdowns.

The Bank of Japan's pledge of unlimited debt buying also seen as a positive.

Europe's STOXX 600 rose 1.8 percent in early deals, with Germany's DAX up 2.3%.

Indexes in France and Britain also rose from the open.

Investors will be eyeing some big hitters reporting earnings this week, including Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft.

Deutsche Bank lifted sentiment Monday, after beating forecasts.

Shares in the long-struggling lender were up around 12% early on.

Airline shares also surged on hopes of state support.

German flag carrier Lufthansa was up over 7.5%.

But a major slump is expected for some, with profits for the energy sector estimated to have fallen more than 60%.

There could be more alarming data released later in the week too when the U.S. and EU both release first quarter growth numbers.

Though not all analysts think the current crop of data is as relevant for markets.

They have mostly shrugged off huge rises in U.S. jobless claims to focus on how quickly economies will rebound as lockdowns are lifted.

Oil prices appeared set for another volatile week on Monday though.

They tumbled again as storage space runs short.

Crude prices have fallen in eight of the last nine weeks, with U.S. crude even trading below zero last week.