Investors buy equities on Monday

Stock benchmarks across the globe rose during the Asian session on Monday, with E.U. bourses set to open 1% higher, and U.S. equity futures were seen half a percent stronger. 

Sentiment continued to be positive as investors thought the U.S. earnings season would see most companies beat forecasts given expectations had been lowered so far by coronavirus lockdowns.

From other news, R-OPEC+ (i.e., OPEC plus Russia and a bunch of non-OPEC exporters) is set to slowly resume pumping more after an alliance of producers led by Saudi Arabia wants to increase oil production starting in August, amid signs that demand is returning to normal levels following coronavirus-related lockdowns Bloomberg and the Journal reported overnight. 

Nevertheless, oil failed to slump and was trading only 0.6% weaker heading into the London session, still holding above the critical 40 USD handle. 

In the F.X. land, the greenback weakened, which is the sign of risk-appetite, although as Frankfurt opened for trading, we saw some strengthening in the USD and weakness in equities. There are chances that the E.U. session will reverse earlier gains. 

Metals were bid as the USD fell, and spot gold climbed back above 1,800 USD, while silver conquered the 19 USD threshold again.