Remember, last week we saw a commodity plunge and some violent down days, especially in the first half.
Right now, US futures are up, Japan had a big day, and Europe is higher across the board.
Italy is particularly strong, with the FTSE MIB up 1.6%.
Helping Italy is the fact that over the weekend, the Parliament elected the country's current President to stay on for another 7-year term. Note that this is not the same as forming a government (Italy still lacks a new Prime Minister) but this does add some stability.