clipped from: www.ft.com   

Global stock markets are heading for their best quarterly performance in more than 20 years, with a sharp rally from March lows powered by hopes of economic recovery.

The FTSE All-World Developed Market index was on course for its strongest performance since 1987, having gained more than 21 per cent since the end of March. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 has risen almost 16 per cent over the same period, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 23.4 per cent and the S&P 500 had risen 15 per cent by midday trading.

Emerging markets benefited most from investors’ appetite for riskier assets, surging an impressive 35 per cent,
The rally
has been driven by hopes that the stabilising financial environment means the global economy, while suffering a deep recession, will avoid a 1930s-style depression.
data have started showing a slowdown in the pace of economic decline, leading to hopes that the worst of the recession may be past.