European Stocks Close Higher For 2nd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended broadly higher on Monday, extending gains from the previous session, with investors reassessing the expected path of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes amid falling inflation expectations.

After hitting two-week highs early on in the session, stocks pared some gains as the day progressed as buying interest lost momentum.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.52%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.69% and Germany's DAX surged up 0.52%, while France's CAC 40 ended 0.43% down, failing to hold early gains. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.53%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended sharp to moderately higher.

Czech Republic, Greece and Turkey closed weak, while Spain ended flat.

In the UK market, Antofagasta, Standard Chartered, Prudential, Severn Trent, United Utilities, Harbour Energy, Smiths Group, Kingfisher, Anglo American Plc, Scottish Mortgage, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, WPP and Berkeley Group Holdings gained 2 to 3.25%.

BAE Systems, Fresnillo and Halma gained nearly 2%.

ABRDN, Burberry Group, BT Group and Ocado Gropup shed 1 to 2.5%.

In the French market, Faurecia surged up nearly 5%. ArcelorMittal, Valeo, Veolia and CapGemini gained 2 to 3%. Renault, Legrand, Sodexo, Michelin and Thales also ended notably higher.

Safran, Bouygues, AXA, WorldLine, Essilor, Vinci, Saint Gobain, Kering and Credit Agricole ended lower by 1 to 2%.

French pharmaceutical company Ipsen SA declined by about 2.5% after it announced an agreement to acquire Epizyme, Inc. (EPZM), a company focused on delivering novel epigenetic therapies.

In Germany, HelloFresh rallied more than 5%. Bayer, Fresenius, Infineon Technologies, Continental, Siemens Healthineers, Zalando, Qiagen, Porsche Automobil and Sartorius gained 2 to 3%.

RWE, Puma and Vonovia drifted down 1.5 to 1.8%. Covestro, Linde and MTU Aero Engines posted modest losses.

Prosus NV shares soared nearly 16%. The Dutch-based technology investor is planning to sell more of its $134 billion stake in Chinese software giant Tencent, owner of WeChat, to finance a buyback program.

Shares of Swdeish engineering company Sandvik AB gained about 4.5% after the company announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Portugal-based Frezigest, SGPS, or Frezite.

Global advisory firm KPMG said in its UK Economic Outlook that the UK economy is likely to enter a mild recession next year on the back of a sharp deterioration in the external environment and the cost of living crisis.

The economic growth is forecast to slow to 3.2% in 2022 as the invasion of Ukraine and renewed lockdowns in China put upward pressure on commodity prices and keep supply chains under strain, KPMG said. The growth is projected to slow further to 0.7% next year due to the fallouts from geopolitical tensions.