European Stocks Close Higher As Investors Asses Economic Data, Recent Earnings

(RTTNews) - European markets closed mostly higher on Monday, led by gains in the banking and automobile sectors.

Investors assessed U.S.-China trade discussions, recent earnings updates, and digested the latest batch of regional economic data, in addition to awaiting the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement due this week.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.46%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.16% and Germany's DAX closed up by 1.1%, while France's CAC 40 edged down by 0.14%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.01% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye closed higher.

Iceland and Sweden ended weak, while Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain closed little changed.

In the UK market, Airtel Africa surged nearly 6%, adding to recent gains. Games Workshop climbed 3.1%, British American Tobacco gained 2.7% and IAG moved up 2.3%.

M&G, The Sage Group, Prudential, Schroders, Legal & General, Diageo, Standard Chartered, Intercontinental Hotels, Easyjet, Imperial Brands, Haleon and Halma gained 1 to 2%.

Oil major BP is gaining about 1.2% after it agreed to divest stakes in U.S. shale assets to Sixth Street for $1.5 billion.

Vodafone Group, WPP, JD Sports Fashion, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Anglo American Plc, Marks & Spencer, Rio Tinto, Croda International, Convatec Group, Glencore and Beazley closed down by 2 to 5.2%.

In the German market, Rheinmetall, Siemens Energy, Volkswagen, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, SAP, Continental, Deutsche Bank, Porsche Automobil and Allianz gained 1.3 to 4%.

Zalando, Qiagen, Vonovia, Bayer, E.ON, Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care, Daimler Truck Holding and Merck declined sharply.

In the French market, Renault gained about 2%. The automaker said it would sell a 26.4 percent stake in its Brazilian business, Renault do Brasil, to Chinese automaker Geely Automobile.

Edenred, Engie, Michelin, LVMH, Accor, Stellantis and Safran closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Capgemini closed more than 3% down. Eurofins Scientific, BNP Paribas, Hermes International, Teleperformance, Dassault Sytemes, Unibail Rodamco and Carrefor also declined sharply.

Eurozone manufacturing sector stagnated in October, as initially estimated, following a fractional deterioration in September, the purchasing managers' survey compiled by S&P Global showed on Monday.

The final Purchasing Managers' Index posted 50.0 in October, signalling no change in the operating conditions in the manufacturing sector. The score matched the initial estimate and remained above September's score of 49.8.

Germany's factory activity continued to shrink in October. Nonetheless, the HCOB factory PMI rose marginally to 49.6 from 49.5 in the prior month. The score came in line with the flash estimate.

Data from S&P Global showed France's HCOB Manufacturing PMI rose to 48.8 in October from 48.2 in September, continuing to contract, but at a softer pace.

The UK manufacturing activity shrank in October but the pace of contraction was the slowest in a year, the final purchasing managers' survey data from S&P Global revealed on Monday.

The factory Purchasing Managers' Index rose to a 12-month high of 49.7 in October from 46.2 in September. The flash reading was 49.6.