European, US Stocks Rise, Shrugging Off Virus Fears

Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic rebounded from last week's losses on Monday as optimism over easing lockdowns won out over fear of surging coronavirus infections.

Most of the European session was tepid "with the positive implications of easing lockdown measures weighed up against surging COVID-19 cases throughout the" United States, said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading firm IG.

But by the close, European key markets were more than one percent higher, helped by steady gains on Wall Street over the New York morning.

The Dow led US indices, finishing up 2.3 percent, or 580 points, to 25,959.80.

The biggest gainer was Boeing, which surged 14.4 percent as the US Federal Aviation Administration undertook a long-awaited certification flight of the 737 MAX, which has been grounded since March 2019 following two deadly crashes.

Major Wall Street indices lost more than two percent on Friday as coronavirus cases spiked in numerous southern and western states, exacerbating worries the US economic recovery would be derailed.

While new COVID-19 cases in the US remained at a high level Monday, analysts expect a spate of major economic data releases this week to show sequential improvement from very weak levels.

"The market is seeing the glass half-full today versus the glass half-empty at the end of last week," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities.

London got a mild boost from investors after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus crisis needed the type of massive economic response US president Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilized to tackle the Great Depression.

Travel stocks were up, with both TUI and EasyJet surging higher.

BP's share price jumped after the British energy major, hit hard by weak oil demand, announced the sale of its petrochemical business to privately-owned rival Ineos.

Earlier, Asian equity markets had tanked in response to rising virus cases in the US, and after China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster, with a city official calling the situation "severe and complicated."