European Markets Close Higher Amid Easing Concerns Over Banking Sector Woes

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Monday amid easing concerns about the banking crisis following the latest developments in the sector.

News about an agreement for the takeover of the assets of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) helped ease fears of a global banking crisis.

First Citizens BancShares has entered into a loss-share transaction for all deposits and loans of the SVB, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a statement.

Sentiment was also underpinned after U.S. Fed officials said there was no indication that financial stress was worsening.

Data showing an improvement in German business climate helped as well.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.05%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC both gained 0.9%, and Germany's DAX surged 1.14%, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 1.43%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Iceland and Turkiye ended weak.

In the UK market, 3I Group rallied 4.3%. Ocado Group gained nearly 3%. Barclays, BP, Melrose Industries, Barratt Developments, Associated British Foods, Burberry Group, GSK, Glencore, Taylor Wimpey, AstraZeneca, Pearson and Shell gained 1.5 to 2.1%.

Fresnillo and Smiths Group both declined by about 1.5%. BT Group, Segro and Diageo posted modest losses.

In Paris, Teleperformance climbed more than 4%. Renault surged nearly 3%. BNP Paribas, Eurofins Scientific, Publicis Groupe, Orange, Stellantis, Engie and Saint Gobain gained 2 to 2.6%.

Pernod Ricard, Kering and Capgemini ended notably lower.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank rallied more than 6% after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the bank remains profitable and there's no reason to doubt its future.

Sartorius, Fresenius Medical Care, Commerzbank, HeidelbergCement, Porsche, Daimler, Merck, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Energy and Hannover Rueck climbed 2.3 to 4%.

In the Swiss market, Novartis soared 7.8% after the drugmaker reported positive results from a trial of its Kisqali breast cancer drug.

A closely watched survey suggested that Germany's business confidence unexpectedly strengthened in March underpinned by robust improvement in expectations despite turbulence in the global banking sector.

The business climate index rose to 93.3 in March from 91.1 in February, data from the Munich-based ifo institute showed. The score improved for the fifth consecutive month. The reading was forecast to fall to 91.0.

The improvement was driven primarily by business expectations. Companies also assessed their current situation as somewhat better.

The current situation indicator advanced more-than-expected to 95.4 from 93.9 a month ago. The expected level was 94.1. At 91.2, the expectations index rose from 88.4 in the previous month and was also above economists' forecast of 88.3.