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European stocks rose on Monday as investors pushed markets higher in the first trade of the year in hopes that an uneven vaccine rollout will nonetheless put economies back on their feet.
Down 4% for 2020 as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP,
increased by 1.3%.
United Kingdom FTSE 100 UKX,
jumped 2.5%, the German DAX and the French CAC 40 also gained.
ES00 US equity futures contracts,
rose, following a year in which the major US benchmarks posted solid gains. The S&P 500 SPX,
increased by 16% in 2020 and gained almost 50% in two years.
“The global economy still has a lot of leeway to do better than consensus forecasts. Strong household savings will finance pent-up demand and most countries will resist any temptation to prematurely tighten fiscal or monetary policy, ”said Kit Juckes, head of foreign exchange strategy at Société Générale.
News on the coronavirus front continues to worsen in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hospitalizations in the United States hit a record 125,544 on Sunday, according to the COVID-19 monitoring project. The United States is millions behind on its immunization schedule target, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has threatened fines for administering vaccines beyond recommended groups, even as these vaccines expire.
In the United Kingdom, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca AZN,
rose 1.8% on the first day of its vaccine rollout, as it also sold the rights to a hypertension drug for $ 400 million to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel. Referring to a likely tightening of rules on mobility, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “the old tier system is no longer strong enough”, also saying he fears identified tension in Africa from South.
Monday also sees the release of manufacturing data. Caixin China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 53 from 54.9, while the eurozone index fell from 53.8 to 55.2. Any reading above 50 indicates improving conditions.
Politics will also be in the spotlight ahead of Tuesday’s Senate races in Georgia. If Democrats sweep both away, they’ll take control of the upper house, and polls suggest a close race in the historically Republican state.
Shares of UK gaming company Entai ENT,
jumped 27% to 1,429 pence after rejecting the proposed offer of 1,383 pence per share of MGM Resorts MGM,
which valued the company at 8.09 billion pounds sterling. Entain, the owner of brands including Ladbrokes, said the proposal significantly underestimated the company and its prospects. Entain also requested “additional information regarding the strategic justification of a combination of the two companies”.
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