Eurozone Equities Rise As EU Leaders Push For Rescue Deal

Eurozone stock markets pushed higher Monday as EU leaders labored to pin down a 750 billion euro ($860 billion) coronavirus rescue package, while tech shares lifted Wall Street.

The euro hit a four-month dollar peak of $1.1468, before paring its gains as bourses in Paris and Frankfurt both gained.

Wall Street also advanced, led by the Nasdaq, which jumped 2.5 percent to a fresh record following another heady session by Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants.

A spike in new COVID-19 infections forced fresh containment measures -- notably in Australia, Hong Kong and the United States -- and fueled fears of a faltering economic recovery.

Meanwhile, two studies offered fresh hope of a potential vaccine, a development some experts think is necessary for economies to fully recover.

European leaders resumed talks to resolve their deadlock on a huge coronavirus rescue package after a furious row about grants for member states threatened to derail it.

The negotiations by the 27-country bloc followed three days and nights of prolonged wrangling that failed to agree on a plan to help drag Europe out of a painful pandemic-induced recession.

"Hopes are high for the deal to get done today, with risk appetite mainly looking intact even if they need another week to finalize the technical details," said analyst Edward Moya of online currency trading platform Oanda.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed cautious optimism for a deal as the talks resumed Monday.

"The EU is known for bickering, but it is also known for brokering deals," said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

Investors are also keeping an eye on Washington, hoping lawmakers will press ahead with fresh stimulus measures for the world's top economy.

Monday's Nasdaq surge followed analyst upgrades of several tech giants that have been big winners from the COVID-19 upheaval as more Americans work from home.

Shares of Amazon powered 7.9 percent higher after Goldman Sachs lifted its price target on the e-commerce giant, estimating North American revenues rose 48 percent in the second quarter.

Among other large tech companies, Apple rose 2.1 percent, Google parent Alphabet 3.3 percent, Microsoft 4.3 percent and Tesla 9.5 percent.

All will report results within the next 10 days.

"Stocks that benefit the most from social distancing and the spreading virus are doing well," said Karl Haeling of LBBW.

"Investors are hedging their bets by buying stocks that don't benefit from the economic rebound as much as they benefit from a continuation of high fear surrounding coronavirus."

Hong Kong, which had gone weeks without new cases, posted a record number of infections on Sunday, while the government has imposed fresh measures aimed at containing the disease AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCE

Noble Energy rose 5.4 percent as Chevron announced it would acquire the exploration and production company for $5 billion in the biggest petroleum acquisition since the industry downturn caused by the coronavirus. Chevron dropped 2.2 percent.

"This is likely the first of many deals to be done as US energy companies will need to consolidate even further," said Oanda analyst Moya.

New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 26,680.87 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 3,251.84 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 2.5 percent at 10,767.09 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,261.52 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.0 percent at 13,046.92 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 5,093.18 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.7 percent at 3,388.34 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 22,717.48 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.1 percent at 25,057.99 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 3.1 percent at 3,314.15 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1444 from $1.1428 at 2100 GMT