Markets mixed amid COVID-19 vaccine setback

Markets were mixed on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to a record high while the STOXX Europe 600 was flat and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.0 percent.

The US 10-year Treasury yield was largely steady around 1.6 percent on Monday, and that, according to Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, allowed investors “to focus more on just how low yields remain overall”.

Meanwhile in Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic threat looks likely to be prolonged after Germany, France and Italy became the latest countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine over concerns about possible side effects.