- Global
stocks jumped on Monday, boosted by a newly positiveCOVID-19 vaccine backdrop and stronger industrial data from China. - Investors are eagerly anticipating results from
vaccine candidates including Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. - "The road to full economic reopening is slow, but the 'long vaccine' trade remains live," Axi's chief market strategist said.
- President Donald Trump plans to introduce fresh sanctions against China and promote hawkish government officials to senior roles before his term ends, according to Axios.
Global stocks rose on Monday as investors were encouraged by more positive news on the
Futures tied to the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq rose between 0.5% and 0.9%.
Ugur Sahin, the CEO of Pfizer's vaccine partner BioNTech, said COVID-19 will be reduced by about 50% following the vaccine rollout, and could result in a "dramatic reduction of the pandemic spread."
Moderna is expected to soon release the results of its vaccine, called mRNA-1273. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he would be surprised if the data is not similar to Pfizer's.
A third vaccine being developed by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, will enter large-scale clinical trials in the UK on Monday. 6,000 British volunteers have signed up to participate in the Phase-3 trial.
Investors are also waiting on progress reports from AstraZeneca, which has partnered with Oxford University, said Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx.
'The road to full economic reopening is slow, but the 'long vaccine' trade remains live," Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, said. "A risk to the reflationary implications of an impending rotation from technology to value is a pronounced bear-steepening in yield curves, led by US Treasuries."
Chinese economic data encouraged Asian
China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.1%, Japan's Nikkei rose 2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8%.
Before President Donald Trump's term ends, he plans to introduce "a series of hardline policies" on China including fresh sanctions, restrictions, and the promotion of more hawkish government officials into senior roles, according to Axios.
"While there is a risk of escalation ahead of President-elect Joe Biden taking office, we expect a more conciliatory and multilateral approach from the incoming administration, reducing a major source of market instability during the Trump presidency," Mark Haefele, who is chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said.
Elsewhere in the UK, the FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. Britain now only has 45 days to go until the Brexit transition phase ends and the country is exposed to life outside the EU.
Spain's BBVA is set to sell its US assets to PNC Financial for nearly $12 billion, a deal that sent its shares as high as 15% in Madrid on Monday. The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.8% and Germany's DAX rose 0.6%.
General optimism among investors and a weaker US dollar gave oil prices a boost as the new week began, said Commerzbank analysts. Brent crude futures rose 1.7%, to $43.52, and West Texas Intermediate rose 2%, to $40.94.
Hopes of growing demand, Chinese crude oil processing hitting a record 14.1 million barrels per day in October, and disciplined implementation of the production cuts by OPEC+ are contributing to the upswing, Commerzbank said.
Gold rose only slightly to $1,890 an ounce. But as long as there continues to be uncertainty around how the economy will recover and the amount of stimulus continues to be at a historic high, that bodes well for gold, according to Ed Moy, former director of the US Mint.