The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.6% by late morning, with travel and leisure stocks jumping 2.1% to lead gains as all sectors except utilities traded in positive territory.
In overnight trading on Sunday, U.S. stock futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed about 170 points, while the S&P 500 futures and the Nasdaq 100 futures both rose.
Trump said in a minute-long video posted on Twitter late Sunday that “we are getting great reports from the doctors.” The president also took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters standing outside the hospital.
“It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,” Trump said, standing in his hospital room in a video posted on social media. “I learned it by really going to school.” He added, “I get it, and I understand it.”
Nonetheless, the president’s doctors said they had begun treating him with dexamethasone, a steroid recommended for severe cases of Covid-19. The president was said to have experienced two drops in his oxygen levels since his diagnosis announcement just before 1 a.m. ET on Friday.
Oil prices also saw a strong rebound during Monday trade, up around 3.6% by late morning in Europe, following a drop on Friday.
In terms of individual share price moves, British engineering firm Weir Group rallied more than 17% in early trade after the sale of its oil and gas division, while gold miner Centamin saw its London-listed shares slide 3.7% to extend Friday’s losses after warning of a hit to production.improving health as he’s treated for Covid-19.
Markets may also see some support coming in from heightened expectations that America will pass a new stimulus bill sooner rather than later. Trump tweeted over the weekend that the U.S. “wants and needs stimulus”.
Asian markets rose broadly and the dollar slipped while oil prices rose about 2 percent on easing concerns about Trump’s health.
Across the Atlantic, reports on service sector activity and the U.S. trade deficit may attract some attention this week along with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
U.S. stocks ended firmly in the red on Friday after President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus and data showed U.S. job growth slowed by much more than anticipated in September, adding to mounting uncertainties surrounding the looming presidential election.
U.S. non-farm payroll employment rose by 661,000 jobs in September, while economists had expected employment to increase by 850,000 jobs.
The Dow dipped half a percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2 percent and the S&P 500 shed 1 percent.
European markets recovered from an early slide to end mixed on Friday as weaker than expected economic data from U.S. and Europe raised expectations that central banks will announce more stimulus sooner than later.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.3 percent. The German DAX dropped 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index edged up marginally and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent.
Source: cnbc.com RTTNews.com
