Markets rise, US COVID-19 cases fall

Markets rose on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to a record high, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent and the Nikkei 225 surged 2.1 percent.

“We are still very much in a bull market at the early stages of an economic recovery that’s gaining momentum,” said Michael Wilson, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley in a note.

Tony Dwyer, chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity, said that “it would take an epic unforeseen failure in the rollout of the various vaccines to prevent the domestic and economic engine from ramping greater than most expect”.

Indeed, the US reported a 25 percent drop in new cases of COVID-19 to about 825,000 last week, the biggest fall since the pandemic started, and the fourth consecutive weekly decline in cases.