US and European stocks set records, risk assets heading for “melt-up”

Markets mostly rose on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to a record high. The STOXX Europe 600 jumped 1.4 percent to also close at a record high. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 percent but the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent.

Some analysts see the stock market on the brink of a record-breaking run.

UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele said that the partial US-China trade deal struck last week is a bullish factor. “This could unlock further upside for equity markets, driven by an improvement in business confidence and a recovery in investment,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, led by strategists Michael Hartnett, see the market as “primed for Q1 2020 risk asset melt-up”, with the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank providing ample support.