European Stocks Look Headed For Positive Start

Higher European and U.S. futures following news about resumption of final stage clinical trial of coronavirus vaccine by AstraZeneca point to a firm start for European stocks Monday morning.

Oxford University announced on Saturday that it is resuming a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is developing with AstraZeneca. A few days earlier, the trial was suspended following an unexplained illness of a patient in the U.K.

According to a statement from Oxford University, the regulators gave the nod to resume trial. The statement reads: "The independent review process has concluded and following the recommendations of both the independent safety review committee and the U.K. regulator, the MHRA, the trials will recommence in the U.K.,"

The Dow futures are up by about 1%, while S&P futures and Nasdaq futures are rising 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Crude oil prices are up as well. WTI crude futures for October are gaining about 0.6% at $37.55 a barrel, while Brent crude futures are up 0.2% at $39.91 a barrel.

The focus this week will be on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, which gets underway on Tuesday. The Fed is widely expected to make some slight changes in its statement with regard to interest rates.

Investors will also be closely following the developments on the Brexit front.

On the data front, a report on Eurozone industrial production for the month of July is due out at 5 am ET.

Before that, at 3 am ET, data on Turkey industrial production and retail sales, both for the month of July, are due.

On Friday, the major European markets closed mostly higher. The pan European Stoxx 600 moved up 0.27%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.48%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.2% and Germany's DAX edged down 0.05%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.5%.