Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic struggled Monday to rebound from last week's losses as optimism over easing lockdowns was torpedoed by fear over surging coronavirus infections.

Investors were treading water "with the positive implications of easing lockdown measures weighed up against surging COVID-19 cases throughout the US," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading firm IG.

Key eurozone market barely managed any gains at all, while London advanced slightly more as investors welcomed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the coronavirus crisis needed the type of massive economic response US president Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilised to tackle the Great Depression.

Travel stocks were up, with both TUI and EasyJet posting gains.

BP's share price jumped after the British energy major, hit hard by weak oil demand, announced the sale of its petrochemical business to privately-owned rival Ineos.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index was around 150 points higher at the opening bell.

Earlier, Asian equity markets had tanked in response to rising virus cases in the US, and after China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster, with a city official calling the situation "severe and complicated".