European markets are starting the trading week in positive territory as governments around the world begin to gradually lift restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus epidemic. London’s benchmark FTSE was trading 1.4% higher in Monday’s late-afternoon session, the CAC-40 in Paris had gained 1.9%, and Frankfurt’s DAX index was 2.8% higher. All of Asia’s indexes made significant gains hours earlier, led by Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index, which finished 2.7% higher after Japan’s central bank announced it was buying billions of dollars in government bonds and corporate debt to revive an economy shattered by the coronavirus pandemic. In futures trading, both the Dow Jones and the S&P are both up 0.8%, while the Nasdaq is up just over one percent, signalling a good day for investors in the U.S. markets. In oil futures trading, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $14.19 per barrel, a loss of 16%, while Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $20.62 per barrel, down neary 4%. Oil markets have been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, with government imposed quarantines choking off demand and causing a massive glut of supplies.
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