World stock markets were celebrating the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the American presidential election on Monday, leaving aside the worsening health situation in the United States and Europe.

European markets have been booming since the opening: around 08:35 GMT, Paris rose by 1.55%, Frankfurt by 1.93% and London by 1.39%.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei star index, which had already jumped almost 6% over the whole of last week, closed up 2.12%.

Chinese stocks also recorded solid gains on Monday: in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index closed at +1.18%, the Shanghai composite index reached 1.86% and the Shenzhen index 2.25%.

Moreover, futures contracts were largely positive for American indices, boding for a euphoric opening there as well.

“Exchanges are hoping for more predictability and less volatility,” and are “happy that the four Trump years are a thing of the past,” notes Jochen Stanzl, an analyst at CMC Markets.

“Investors are betting that Joe Biden will once again put more emphasis on international cooperation,” he adds.

Even if Donald Trump refuses to admit defeat, the markets continued to advance after registering strong increases last week, despite a profit taking movement at the very end of the week.

Initially, investors feared a Democratic victory, synonymous with higher corporate taxes and capital income taxes, but they are now betting on moderate policy measures.

Indeed, the emerging balance of power between Republicans and Democrats in Congress should severely limit Mr. Biden's room for maneuver to enforce the tax changes included in his program.

Investors agree to expect the implementation of a recovery plan in the United States, even if they assume that it will be less ambitious than expected, and rely above all on the continued largesse of the American Central Bank.

The American electoral battle will now focus on Congress, where the Senate majority will be played out in close elections in Georgia in January.

For Vincent Boy, market analyst at IG France, “the strong acceleration of the markets is mainly due to the fact that (Fed boss) Jerome Powell once again showed unwavering support” for the American economy during the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy speech on Thursday.

Monetary support means an influx of liquidity and very low interest rates, all of which are favourable conditions for massive investments in financial assets, and therefore for markets to rise.

“Despite the accumulation of various crises in the United States, whether health, economic, political or even geopolitical, investors are not reducing their exposure to risky assets, showing the lack of correlation between financial markets and reality,” notes the expert.

Reassuring indicators also supported the general good mood. Unemployment fell more sharply than expected in October in the United States and the Chinese economy continues to show signs confirming its recovery, including an 11.4% increase in its global exports in October over one year

But the United States, like Europe, has faced record numbers of new infections in recent days and the accumulation of new restrictions to deal with this second wave could seriously hinder economic recovery.

The oil market was in line with the good mood on the stock markets: around 09:20 GMT, the price of a barrel of American WTI crude rose 2.69% to 38.14 dollars and that of Brent from the North Sea rose by 2.51% to 40.44 dollars.

On the other hand, there was no significant reaction at the currency level: the dollar was stable against the euro and rose slightly against the yen.

The key indexes in Paris and Frankfurt were entirely green.

In terms of values, the automotive sector was doing well on both sides of the Rhine: Volkswagen (+2.58%), BMW (+2.12%), Daimler (+1.92%), PSA (+3.13% to 16.99 euros) and Renault (+2.58% to 23.30 euros).

Semiconductors were at the party, whether Infineon (+2.07%) on the DAX or STMicroelectronics (+3.86%) on the CAC 40.