US and European stocks rise as optimism over stimulus relief and Brexit trade deal offsets rising COVID-19 cases

US and European stocks rise as optimism over stimulus relief and Brexit trade deal offsets rising COVID-19 cases

AP Photo/Richard Drew

US and European stocks rose on Tuesday after further developments on stimulus relief and a Brexit trade deal.Investors are looking for a deal between Democrats and Republicans that could give markets a much-needed boost to end the year's turbulence. Most of Britain will be subject to tough new rules on Wednesday after a new COVID-19 strain was linked to an acceleration in new cases in London.The UK and the EU have restarted talks to secure a trade agreement with just two weeks to go to the end of the Brexit transition period.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US and European stocks rose on Tuesday, led by investor optimism over stimulus measures from a bipartisan group of lawmakers and the growing chances of a Brexit trade deal. 

Futures tied to the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq rose 0.5%, suggesting that major indices will open higher at the start of regular trading later.

US lawmakers unveiled two separate stimulus packages in Congress on Monday, amounting to $908 billion in economic relief. Both chambers of Congress have until midnight Friday to pass another funding agreement in order to keep the government open. 

Equity markets were further buoyed by the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's