Global stock rally may falter if re-openings face hitches

GLOBAL stocks have re-entered a bull market on hopes that the world economy is starting to emerge from its chrysalis, but the bull could wobble this week if reopening plans in Germany, Texas and elsewhere hit any hitches. The Dow Jones Industrial Average completed its biggest two-week gain in over 80 years last week and closed within 15 per cent of all-time highs, as investors looked past dire medical and economic data towards a Covid-19 cure. Nearly 40,000 people have died of the virus in the US, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.

Retail sales, as tallied by the Commerce Department, saw their biggest drop on record in March, when lockdowns were just beginning.

Stocks were more or less flat on the week when US President Donald Trump last Thursday effectively gave state governors the all-clear to reopen their economies. Almost simultaneously, Apple chief Tim Cook was addressing the iPhone giant's huge workforce about his plan to reopen their offices. Boeing laid out plans to start building jets again in hard-hit Washington state.