European stocks on track for huge monthly gain

European stocks rose on Monday, extending gains for the second straight day, and hit a 9-month high after positive news about Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine candidate, while European stocks are heading for a huge monthly gain thanks to improved market sentiment.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1% as of 12:10 GMT, and hit the highest since February of 393.87 points, after it closed higher by 0.5% on Friday.

The index gained 0.8% during the past week, in its fourth straight weekly gain, as investors' risk appetite continued to improve.

The pan European index opened higher today, extending its gains for the second straight day, and hit a 9-month high, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The American company Moderna announced on Monday that its vaccine was 100% effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in the final analysis of the third and final stage of clinical trials.

The Stoxx Europe index's gains during November is more than 14% so far, which will be the third straight monthly gain.

This huge monthly gain came thanks to improved market sentiment following the positive news about Covid-19 vaccines, while the political tensions eased in the US over the presidential election.

S&P 500 futures fell more than 0.3%, after the index closed higher by 0.2% on Friday at Wall Street, after the US stock markets reopened for only half a session following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.1%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.2%, Germany's DAX rose over 0.5%, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.