Wall Street shook off a historic rate of US jobless claims after a record 30 per cent surge in oil prices boosted energy stocks. Gains for oil majors also pulled several European stock markets into positive territory, reversing the morning’s losses. In Europe, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total pushed markets higher after a lacklustlustre start to the day’s trading. The Iseq index in Dublin finished down 2.2 per cent, as key stocks Ryanair, Glanbia and Kerry all finished in the red. The massive 6.65 million total far exceeded the median estimate of 3.5 million in a Reuters survey of economists.

Source: The Irish Times April 02, 2020 09:32 UTC