European stocks US China trade

Brussels (dpa) — European stocks closed higher on Monday, led by gains in defence stocks amid concerns about Israel-Hamas tensions over a Gaza ceasefire violation and US President Donald Trump’s comments that there is not any great prospect of peace in Ukraine.

Expectations of improved trade relations between China and the United States contributed as well to the positive mood in the markets. Financial stocks found some support as concerns about the health of the US banking sector eased a bit.

Investors also reacted to a slew of corporate news. Trump sought to ease trade tensions, saying the much higher tariffs he had threatened to impose on Chinese imports wouldn’t be sustainable. A new round of US-China trade talks is also set for this week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained more than 1%. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.52%, Germany’s DAX surged 1.8%, and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.39%, while Switzerland’s SMI edged down 0.07%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed higher. The Czech Republic edged up marginally, while Iceland ended weak.

In the UK market, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Whitbread, Fresnillo, Airtel Africa, Weir Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Anglo American and Babcock International climbed 2% to 2.6%. BAE Systems, Rio Tinto, Prudential, Burberry Group, Informa, Relx, St James’s Place and Intertek Group also closed notably higher. Pearson ended down by 2.7%. Persimmon, Associated British Foods, Rightmove, Metlen Energy & Metals, Centrica, Berkeley Group Holdings, United Utilities, WPP, Next and Marks & Spencer closed weak.

In the German market, Rheinmetall surged 5.8%. Infineon gained about 5%. SAP, Daimler Truck Holding, Continental, Bayer, Siemens, Commerzbank, Heidelberg Materials, Adidas, Zalando, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Bank and Hannover Rueck gained 1% to 3.3%.

In the French market, Kering climbed nearly 5% after the company agreed to sell its beauty division to L’Oréal for €4 billion ($4.7 billion). L’Oréal shares are modestly higher. Airbus Group gained more than 1.5% after the company received an order for 30 aircraft from India’s IndiGo.

STMicroElectronics gained about 4.7%. Thales closed 3.7% up. Stellantis, Eurofins Scientific, Safran, Accor, ArcelorMittal, Renault, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, Hermes International, L’Oréal, Legrand and LVMH also ended with strong gains.

BNP Paribas tumbled nearly 8% after a US jury held the bank responsible for helping to sustain Sudan’s brutal regime under deposed leader Omar al-Bashir. The panel awarded three plaintiffs more than $20 million in damages. Teleperformance, Veolia Environment, Orange, Société Générale and Credit Agricole closed notably lower.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed Germany’s producer prices decreased 1.7% year-on-year in September, following a 2.2% drop in August. Prices have been falling since March. Month-on-month, producer prices slid 0.1%, while prices were expected to climb 0.1%. However, this was slower than the 0.5% decrease posted in August.