European Shares Climb As US And Iran Pause Military Strikes

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded higher on Monday amid easing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Brent crude prices fell around 6 percent toward $90 a barrel after the United States and Iran paused military strikes over the weekend, paving the way for talks to avoid a return to full-scale war.

Iran said it had made progress in talks with Oman on managing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes that the key oil route would avoid further disruption.

Investors also turned attention to crucial quarterly earnings from major U.S. technology companies and the all-important Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The pan-European STOXX 600 jumped 0.7 percent to 649.03 after rising 0.8 percent on Friday.

The German DAX rallied 1.6 percent after the IFO Institute's business climate index improved to a five-month high of 86.6 in July from 85.7 in June.

France's CAC 40 was up 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent.

Automakers were broadly higher, with Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Renault rising 1-2 percent after recent data showed demand for electrified cars continued to underpin growth in Europe's auto market in June.

DCC Energy shares rose over 1 percent in London after the Irish energy distributor agreed to a £5.75 billion takeover offer from private equity firms KKR and Energy Capital Partners.

Vodafone Group shares surged 4 percent. After delivering strong first-quarter results, the telecoms major said it expects full-year earnings to be at the upper end of guidance.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca gained 1.3 percent after reporting second-quarter profit ahead of expectations and backing its annual and long-term forecasts.

Industrial conglomerate Siemens advanced 1.4 percent after adding new Nvidia AI software to its Intelligence Center X.