Reports suggesting that some of the hot spots for the virus contagion appear to be leveling off, and this is helping underpin risk appetites today. The curve seems to be flattening in Italy, Spain, and France. In the US, there are some early signs of leveling off in NY, and now, the number of states with infection rates above 20% is less than 10 from over 40 last week. Nevertheless, caution is still highly warranted as the "weekend effect" could be a result of lighter hospital traffic. Chinese and Indian markets were closed, but other Asia Pacific markets rallied, led by 4%+ gains for the Nikkei, Australia, and ... (full story)