Global Stock Markets Surge: Live Updates

Wall Street is set for an upbeat start to the week.

U.S. stock futures rallied and global markets surged on Monday as investors looked to signs that the outbreak is peaking in some of the world’s worst-hit places.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose more than 3 percent, signaling a gain for the benchmark index when trading opens.

After grappling with intense market volatility during the month of March as efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus weighed on the economy, investors were cheered by numbers showing that the pace of new confirmed infections and deaths was slowing in some places in Europe. In the United States, the Trump administration, while warning of a hard week ahead, suggested that the outbreak could be near its peak in some places. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Saturday that the outbreak there could reach its worst point in coming days.

European stocks were trading higher after a modest rally in Asia picked up steam later in the day.

Beyond stocks, other markets showed improvement. U.S. Treasury bond prices fell in Asian trading. But the price of oil, which generally rises on good economic news, fell amid a continuing spat over supplies between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

A stress test was going to simulate economic disaster in Europe. It’s no longer needed.

European lenders like Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt are plagued by meager profitability, inefficient operations and the continuing cost of cleaning up old messes.Credit...Felix Schmitt for The New York Times

European bank regulators were about to run a stress test, hoping to determine whether banks across the continent could survive a serious economic downturn. But then the real thing arrived.

Government officials planned on running their test earlier this year, and it was meant to simulate a 4.3 percent decline in European economic output by 2022. But after the coronavirus outbreak, this so-called worst-case scenario is far from the worst case.

Some economists say that because of the pandemic, the European economy could decline by more than 10 percent just in the first half of this year.

Regulators and central bankers have tried to make the European banking system “crisis-proof” in recent years. But they are now wondering whether these measures will be enough to prevent a financial meltdown of global proportions.