Stock markets around the world shrugged off some of the worst economic data in decades and the bankruptcy filing of a top U.S. auto maker to post their biggest monthly jump in nearly two decades, capping a dramatic seven-week rebound.

Markets built on gains as investors bought into the belief that stocks touched a bottom in early March. Investors fixed on signs that the global economy wasn't shrinking as quickly as it once was and that the financial system was no longer tottering.

The Dow Jones World Index jumped 12% in dollar terms in April, its largest monthly jump since its inception in 1991.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.61 points, or 0.2%, to 8168.12 on Thursday, but ended up 7.4% in April for the best two months since the start of the last bull market in 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, up 9.4% for the month, had its best April since 1938.

'There comes a point where people feel more and more compelled to put money to work, and the fear of missing a recovery grows pretty rapidly,' says Jonathan Passmore, a portfolio manager at GE Asset Management who helps oversee $7.5 billion in international stocks. At the same time, 'The higher the market goes, the more challenging it becomes to sustain the recovery.'

U.S. junk bonds, meanwhile, returned a record 9.7% in April through Wednesday, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. data, a sign that investors are willing to take on more risk.

Joanna Slater / Neil Shah