European markets are beginning the week on a high note, with all three major indexes making gains in early trading Monday.
The FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt are both 0.4% higher, while the CAC-40 in Paris is down slightly at 0.2%.
The trading day began with significant gains in Asia, led by Hong Kong, which gained 1.5% by its closing day. Japan’s Nikkei index and Taiwan’s TSEC-50 gained just over 1%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX finished 1.3% higher. The indexes in Seoul and Shanghai sustained slight losses.
A man wearing a face mask walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Monday, May 11, 2020.
Investors appear to be showing more confidence in the global economy’s outlook, as nations around the world gradually ease restrictions imposed at the start of the coronavirus epidemic that ground nearly all economic activity to a halt.
In other trading activity, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was at $24.21 per barrel, down 2.1%, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, was at $30.28 per barrel, down 2.2%
All three major U.S. indexes remain in positive territory in futures trading