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European stocks rose on Monday on optimism over lockdown restrictions being lifted across the globe.
The German DAX DAX, +0.53% rose 0.3% and the U.K. FTSE 100 UKX, +0.82% , after a three-day break, rose 0.8%.
Stocks hit hard during the crisis including Virgin Money UK VMUK, +7.62% and CINE, +2.06% led the gainers, while more defensive healthcare stocks including GlaxoSmithKline GSK, -0.37% and Sanofi SAN, +0.06% edged lower.
Worldwide there’s been a pickup in new virus cases, notably in Africa, Brazil and Russia. South Korea has seen a new cluster linked to nightclubs.
But financial market attention was focused more on signs of more economic activity, with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday announcing a relaxation of restrictions and Shanghai Disneyland reopening to mask-wearing visitors.
EasyJet EZJ, -7.47% fell 3.5% as the U.K. government discussed over the weekend a 14-night quarantine on incoming travellers. Airlines UK, a trade body, said it’s been told the quarantine will start at the end of the month.
The yield on the 10-year Italian government bond TMBMKIT-10Y, 1.827% fell 4 basis points as European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel said in an interview with La Repubblica that the central bank is committed to countering a divergence in spreads.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.45% rose 70 points.
