US stocks rise even as COVID-19 death toll surpasses 3,000

Markets were mixed on Monday, with stocks rising in the US and Europe but falling in Asia.

The S&P 500 surged 3.4 percent after President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he had extended social-distancing guidelines through 30 April and that the US would be “well on our way to recovery” by early June.

However, analysts at Goldman Sachs suggested that for the stock market to hit a bottom, among other things, the spread of COVID-19 must begin to slow.

Instead, the toll from COVID-19 in the US has continued to rise dramatically, hitting 3,008 deaths and more than 160,000 confirmed infections on Monday evening.

“Tactically, however, we believe it is likely that the market will turn lower in the coming weeks, and caution investors against chasing this rally,” the Goldman analysts said.

Meanwhile, in Italy, the COVID-19 death toll rose by 812 on Monday to 11,591, the most in the world, but the number of new cases rose by 4,050, the lowest since 17 March.