European markets rose sharply Monday morning as the rate of new coronavirus infections appears to be slowing in the region.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 3.1% in early trade, with autos jumping 5.8% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
Stocks are being buoyed by data showing the rate of new coronavirus infections and deaths there is slowing.
Italy, which was the epicenter of Europe’s pandemic before Spain overtook it in terms of the number of cases, reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll for more than two weeks on Sunday, Reuters noted.
Germany reported a slowdown in the rate of new cases on Sunday for the third day in a row while in Spain, the rate of new infections and deaths continued to decline; Sunday’s rise in the number of deaths represented a 6% increase in total deaths, about half the rate reported a week ago.
“The data from this week and today confirms the slowing down of infections,” Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa told…
