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The global tally grew by 77,200 yesterday to 1.2 million people and there have been 67,594 deaths, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation.
British prime minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care as he continues to fight COVID-19.
However the number of deaths in the UK and New York appear to be slowing, Bloomberg reported, along with signs the crisis might be easing in Europe as well.
The S&P 500 closed up 7.03%, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 5.1%, the FTSE 100 gained 3.08% and the Hang Seng closed up 2.21% yesterday.
"To some extent this feels like a signal that markets will remain focused on the future rather than the past," IG market analyst Joshua Mahony said today.
"Therefore, if markets can easily enough brush aside a 601k miss on the payrolls figure to subsequently end up sharply higher, we can safely assume that pessimistic data may not be enough to spark further market declines.
"Perhaps most crucially, traders will be looking for forward looking outlooks and statistics that show us exactly how much the measures taken by central banks and governments have mitigated the negative effects of this crisis."
Gold was higher at US$1,661 an ounce on the spot market.
Gold major Newmont (NYSE: NEM) returned towards a 52-week high, closing up 6.28%.
Diversified Glencore gained 8.48% in London.
Finally, zinc producer Nexa Resources (TSX: NEXA) shot up more than 20% or C87c yesterday on no news, to close at $5.15 which remains near the bottom of its 52-week range.
