European Markets Gain On Hopes Of Pandemic Progress

Global stock markets climbed on Monday, buoyed by the prospect of further easing of coronavirus lockdowns despite sharp increases in case rates in some countries such as Brazil. However, the US market was closed for the Memorial Day holiday.

On the downside, an upsurge in Sino-US tensions, especially over Chinese plans to introduce a national security law in Hong Kong, made some investors wary.

Over the weekend, President Trump imposed travel limits on Brazil, now the second worst affected country after the United States, reminding markets that while the coronavirus outlook is better, the crisis is far from over.

Japan meanwhile lifted a state of emergency in Tokyo, while Spain and Italy are preparing to reopen their borders to kickstart their crucial tourism sectors.

Greece, Germany and the Czech Republic are also on course to allow bars and restaurants to resume service, while primary schools in parts of England are due to restart from next month.

"Global investors are continuing to map the reopening of global economies to the overall risk narrative," said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.

"The global stock markets are moving higher with positive changes in mobility data. According to recent mobility data, the global economy has taken a giant step toward normality in the last week."

In European trade on Monday, Paris rose 2.2 percent and Frankfurt jumped 2.9 percent, helped by a more positive German business confidence report for May compared with a disastrous showing in April.

A nine-billion-euro rescue package for Lufthansa helped shares in the airline take off by 7.5 percent, while shares in Bayer jumped 7.8 percent after reports it was close to a mass deal with American plaintiffs who say their cancers were caused by unit Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller.

Public holidays in Britain and the US meant trade was relatively low key however.

While analysts expect Trump to continue his attacks on China heading into November's presidential election, they say he is unlikely to take action that threatens the trade detente with Beijing.

Oil prices bounced back from an early sell-off, winning support from the easing of lockdowns and huge output cuts by key producers.

In Paris, the CAC 40 closed up 2.2 percent at 4,539, while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 2.9 percent to 11,391. (AFP)