European shares rose during Monday's trading to be
close to record levels as the measures announced by China to limit the economic
impact of the coronavirus managed to calm markets.
As of 08:53
GMT, the Euro STOXX 600 surged 0.21 percent to 431.62, it remained just below a
record high of 432.26.
France CAC 40 was 0.29 percent up at 6,074.01, and
Germany’s DAX ascended 0.16 percent to 13,763.12. In Britain, FTSE 100 increased
by 0.34 percent to 7,434.21.
The rise in European shares was the result of efforts
by China to fight the corona virus by cutting the lending rate to support the
Chinese economy.
The People's Bank of China announced today that it
will provide medium-term financing of 200 billion Yuan ($29 billion) to
commercial lenders and cut the key interest rate by 10 basis points to 3.15
percent.
China’s finance minister also mentioned that the
country is targeting new tax cuts to stimulate the world’s second-biggest
economy.
Regarding Coronavirus, a recent survey released by
China's National Health Commission on Monday revealed that an additional 105
people had died and 2,048 new people had been confirmed to have been infected
by the end of February 16.
This means that the total number of victims in China
has reached 1,770 dead and 70,548,000 cases of deadly virus infection.
Last week, China made adjustments in the way cases
were calculated to worsen the number of infected people, and announced the
elimination of 108 double-count deaths.
Later in the day, movements could be weak on the back
of the closure of U.S. financial markets due to the Presidents' Day.
Eyes will focus this
week on PMI data from major economies, which may give clues about the impact of
the coronavirus on economic activities in February.