US president Donald Trump has indicated the country would be opened up again "sooner rather than later".

"Our economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!" he tweeted earlier.

The S&P 500 closed up 3.4%, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.47% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2.13% after the government approved a stimulus package this week worth almost US$1 trillion.

There are now more than 1.35 million confirmed cases and 79,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation's latest situation report on the global pandemic.

Meanwhile global gold-backed ETFs and similar products added 298 tonnes, or net asset growth of $23 billion, in the first quarter of 2020 - the highest quarterly amount ever in absolute US dollar terms and the largest tonnage additions since 2016, the World Gold Council said.

"Globally, gold ETFs added 151t - net inflows of US$8.1bn (+5%) - in March, boosting holdings to new all-time highs of 3,185t," the council said.

"Gold prices denominated in many other currencies … continued to reach all-time highs although the price in US dollars remained 15% below its 2011 high."

The spot gold price is similar to this time yesterday, at $1,649 an ounce.

Among the market movers, precious metals miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) closed 5.5% lower in London yesterday.

Base metals producer Ascendant Resources (TSX: ASND) gained 47.8% in Toronto on no news and remains near a one-year low.

Finally, gold major Newmont (NYSE: NEM) is edging back towards a multi-year high after closing up 1.1%.