The rollout of vaccines and a drop in Covid-19 infection rates in the US is also adding to the morale of investors.

Meanwhile, the earnings season is still running at full speed, with mostly better-than expected results. CVS Health and Palantir Technologies, American International Group are on the agenda, ahead of the return of heavyweights tomorrow, such as Shopify, Baidu and Kering.

Investors are betting on the return of a period of economic expansion. Before the pandemic, everyone was wondering how the growth cycle started after the financial crisis would end. The answer is that it ended painfully at the end of winter 2020, but laid the foundations for a strong recovery a year later.

Meanwhile, China is investigating the possibility of harming U.S. defense contractors by restricting exports of rare earth minerals that are crucial to the manufacture of F-35 fighter jets and other sophisticated weapons. According to sources close to the case cited by the Financial Times, the Chinese government has proposed a plan to control the production and export of 17 rare earth minerals in China, which controls 80% of the world's supply. China wants to know if the United States would have difficulty manufacturing its F-35 fighter planes if it imposes a ban on rare earth exports... which seems likely since a U.S. report estimates that each F-35 requires 417 kg of rare earths.

Two important indicators today, the ZEW survey of German financial confidence and the Empire State Index in the United States.