European markets picked up where Asia left off Monday, with its benchmark indexes making big gains thanks to investors’ continued optimism over a post-pandemic recovery. Britain’s FTSE index is up one percent in midday trading, France’s CAC-40 index is 0.8% higher, and the DAX index in Frankfurt, Germany has gained 0.9%. Hours earlier, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 2.2% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended the day 0.1% higher, while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.7%. A man wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, July 13, 2020.In Australia, the S&P/ASX index was 0.8% higher. The KOSPI index in South Korea finished up 1.6%, and Taiwan’s TSEC index rose 1.1%. Mumbai’s Sensex index is up 0.2% in late afternoon trading. In oil trading, U.S. crude oil is selling at $39.90 per barrel, down 1.6%, and Brent crude, the international standard, is selling at $42.64 per barrel, down 1.3%. All three major U.S. indexes are trending upward in futures trading, indicating strong earnings on Wall Street after its opening bell.
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