Volatile week ahead as hopes over virus wax and wane

US stocks had their biggest gains in 46 years last week, and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 re-entered bull-market territory as signs of a peak in Covid-19 cases in New York and parts of Europe stirred hopes that life could gradually return to normal.

This week, there are likely to be more wild swings for the stock market as those hopes wax and wane, as preliminary results from Covid-19 drug tests emerge and as corporations reveal their survival strategies in earnings statements.

"The focus this week has been on the number of cases," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "The reduction in the number of cases in one of the biggest hot spots in the country - New York state - helped confirm watching another proxy, Italy, which also had reduction in their cases."