World shares held up on Monday as optimism about the economic recovery and hopes that the Suez Canal could be reopened soon offset uncertainty related to the default of a U.S. hedge fund.

Investors were on edge about who had been caught out in the default of the fund, named by sources as Archegos Capital, after Nomura and Credit Suisse warned of big losses and block trades on Friday hit some U.S. and Chinese stocks.

The partial refloating of the huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal for nearly a week however raised hopes that the vital waterway could reopen soon and ease global shipping backlogs.

Investors were also looking to President Joe Biden to outline this week his infrastructure spending plan, which could supercharge an already accelerating U.S. recovery.

There is plenty of U.S. fiscal stimulus in supply and therefore growth in the coming quarters is going to be very good, said Giuseppe Sersale, fund manager at Anthilia in Milan.

I dont see Archegos posing a systemic threat at the moment and dont think its default will represent a watershed between a bull and a bear market, he added.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, rose 0.1 by 1205 GMT.

After a mixed performance in Asia, shares in Europe turned higher and were last up 0.3, while U.S. futures dipped slightly although they came off earlier lows. Nasdaq futures fell 0.1 and SP 500 futures fell 0.4.

U.S. and euro zone volatility gauges picked up from last weeks lows….