Standard Life Aberdeen CEO Keith Skeoch said on Thursday that global markets “have passed the point of maximum panic” amid the coronavirus pandemic but have “yet to hit peak pessimism” and that “there’s still some gloom to come.”

Skeoch said on CNBC: “I think what we have seen is a very strong bear market rally.

“So if you look at the world index, actually it’s up 22% from the low …

“So … compared with where we are relative to the peak in markets, we are down about 20% across the board — so you are almost on that cusp of bear market and correction territory.

“So I think we have passed the point of maximum panic, but I still feel, given the numbers we saw yesterday and the numbers we have yet to see in earnings, that we have yet to hit peak pessimism …

“Full credit to the authorities for acting quickly and swiftly and ameliorating this impact but I certainly feel that this is a classic bear market rally.”

Asked whether market participants were guaging correctly the structural damage facing companies at the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Skeoch said: “There is … an awful lot of bad news already in the price …

“I think what we will see as we roll out through the second quarter is worsening economic numbers …

“And we’ll start to see the impact on corporate earnings and the corporate sector …

“I think there’s still some gloom to come.”