Global shares up as recovery hopes overshadow coronavirus worries

Global shares rose on Tuesday as hopes for economic recovery overshadowed worries over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Investors are shifting their focus to how various nations are adapting to getting back to business while striving to keep new Covid-19 cases in check.

France's CAC 40 was up 1 percent to 4,585 as the government was due to unveil support measures for the auto industry. Germany's DAX gained 0.6 percent to 11,458 and the FTSE 100 in Britain, which was closed for trading Monday, rose 1.2 percent to 6,063.

US shares were set for gains after a long weekend, with the future for the Dow industrials adding 1.9 percent and the future for the S&P 500 rising 1.8 percent.

Traders are awaiting US consumer confidence data for May and home sales for April, indicators that might give further clues into the severity of the downturn brought on by the pandemic.

"As is the financial market's won't these days ... even the slimmest of positive news on the Covid-19 front triggers a bullish immune response and another wave of the peak-virus trade," said analyst Jeffrey Halley of trading platform Oanda.

Comments from China's central bank governor on support for its slowing economy also lifted sentiment.

Yi Gang, in an interview on the bank's website, promised to push down borrowing costs for entrepreneurs and "support development of the real economy." He said the People's Bank of China will pursue a "more flexible" monetary policy in line with official goals announced Friday by Premier Li Keqiang of helping smaller and private companies survive the coronavirus pandemic.