After the worst market rout since the March crash, which saw the S&P plunge almost 6% on Thursday, U.S. stock index futures surged about 2% on Friday along with European stocks, pointing to a quick rebound for Wall Street from its biggest one-day dive in about three months on fears of a resurgence in coronavirus infections. Big U.S. lenders including Bank of America Corp , Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley rose between 3% and 5% in premarket trading after taking a hammering earlier this week. The dollar dropped along with the yen and Treasurys as investors sold safa havens. The VIX eased about 4.5 points after spiking to 40, its highest level since April 23.

Why are stocks surging? Because it appears that the lunatic have taken over the asylum again, with Hertz stock up over 50% after the company announced on Thursday it would try to sell bankrupt stock (to manic Robinhood daytraders), in order to fund its operations during bankruptcy, something that has never been attempted before as bankrupt stock is traditionally worthless but to Robinhooders it has about $600MM in value.

"We see some positive points - the worst is over, the economy is gradually re-opening - but we also see downside risks," Janet Mui, investment director at Brewin Dolphin, told Bloomberg TV. "Overall we are adding a bit of equities now, primarily to the U.S. and emerging markets ex-Asia."

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped, with car makers, banks and travel companies leading gains after driving yesterday's losses. The Stoxx 600 Automobiles & Parts Index was the best-performing segment on the broader European share gauge after Goldman Sachs eased its prediction for 2020 global car-market contraction, citing better regional expectations: Renault +3.3%, Daimler +2.1%, Continental AG +1.8%, Faurecia +1.7%, Volkswagen +1.5%