Stocks extended gains Monday as investors geared up for another week of closely monitoring developments around the global coronavirus outbreak and policymakers’ responses to the pandemic.
Over the weekend, coronavirus cases rose in major centers around the world but at an at least temporarily slower pace than in recent weeks.
The state of New York, which leads the nation with about 130,000 positive cases, on Monday reported 599 new coronavirus deaths, or about level with the 594 reported on Sunday. But Governor Andrew Cuomo in a Monday press briefing reiterated that even if the pandemic in the state was beginning to plateau, it was “plateauing at a very high level, and there is tremendous stress on the health-care system,” he said.
Elsewhere, Italy reported the slowest rise of new deaths in two weeks on Sunday. France and Spain – two other European centers for the virus – also reported a deceleration in new deaths.
While the slowing increases in case counts serve as a positive development, many analysts remain cautious and have still not ruled out further volatility in the near-term.
“Until the virus shows a decline in its trajectory and rolls over, a semblance of normalcy will likely remain out of reach,”…