Global funds recommended an increase in bond holdings to the highest level in seven years, at the expense of stocks, and said the recovery in the coronavirus-hit world economy will be U-shaped, a Reuters poll showed. U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday as hopes for an effective COVID-19 treatment prompted a broad rally and helped traders shrug off bleak gross domestic product data and words of warning from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The European Central Bank at its news conference due at 1330 GMT on Thursday is expected to expand its bond-buying programme.
