By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are seen opening higher Monday, boosted by optimism of an economic recovery as the region’s vaccination program increases in pace.
At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.6%.
The European Union will fast track approvals of coronavirus vaccines adapted to combat mutations, the bloc's Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
EU officials have faced criticism over the speed many of its constituent countries have received vaccines for their populations. The U.K., by contrast, announced on Sunday that 15 million had received their first doses, raising hopes of a relatively prompt relaxation of stringent lockdown measures.
The importance of the vaccination program was illustrated Sunday by a substantial study in Israel, which reported a 94% drop in symptomatic Covid-19 infections among people who received two doses of the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)'s vaccine.
Also helping the tone was positive news from Asia, after data showed Japan’s gross domestic product grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter. This prompted the country’s benchmark Nikkei index to rise above the psychologically-important 30,000 level for the first time since August 1990.
In corporate news, Daimler (OTC:DDAIF) will be in the spotlight after the German car manufacturer said Saturday its U.S. unit Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling 1.29 million vehicles sold since 2016 because of software issues.
Rolls-Royce (OTC:RYCEY) is set to name former Deloitte partner Panos Kakoullis as its next chief financial officer, according to Sky News, while stock market operator Euronext (PA:ENX) has Monday hired Piero Novelli, a co-president at Swiss bank UBS, to become its new chairman.
Oil prices surged Monday in their highest levels in 13 months, boosted by fresh tensions in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia intercepted an explosive-laden drone from Yemen.
Additionally, cold, wintry weather in Texas is threatening supplies from that important oil-producing region in the U.S. given difficult transportation conditions and power outages.
This comes just as Interfax reported Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying oil markets have now balanced, following curbs to output from the top oil producers.
U.S. crude futures traded 2% higher at $60.68 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.5% to $63.39, both contracts climbing to their highest levels since January last year.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,819.05/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.2136.