European Shares Advance As Russia-Ukraine Talks Resume
European stocks advanced on Monday, with a sharp pullback in crude prices and hopes of a peace deal in the Ukraine crisis offering some support.
Oil prices fell around 4 percent as a coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai fueled worries about weak demand.
Russia and Ukraine will restart face-to-face peace negotiations today after the former signaled that it may scale down its war and aims to concentrate on eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy also said he wants to make a deal with Moscow over Donbas and he is willing to discuss adopting a neutral status too.
The Donbas region has been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.6 percent to 456.45 after closing 0.1 percent higher on Friday.
The German DAX rallied 1.5 percent, France’s CAC 40 index climbed 1.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up half a percent.
Dutch brewing giant Heineken N.V. rose over 1 percent after saying it is pulling out of Russia.
Travel and leisure stocks were in demand, with Air France KLM, Lufthansa, IAG, TUI and EasyJet climbing 2-4 percent.
Apple supplier STMicroelectronics dropped 1 percent after the Nikkei reported Apple Inc is planning to cut the output of its iPhone and AirPods devices.
Energy stocks such as BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were moving lower in London as crude prices slumped on news of fresh Covid-19 lockdowns in China.
Barclays tumbled 3.6 percent after the lender disclosed around a 450 million pound ($591.80 million) loss on mishandled bond trades and delayed its £1bn share buyback program.
Ted Baker lost 2.7 percent after the fashion chain Ted Baker rejected a £250m takeover bid from New York based private equity firm Sycamore.
Aerospace firm Rolls-Royce plunged 11 percent after rallying nearly 20 percent on Friday following rumors of bid interest and an engine order.
Sanofi gained about 1.7 percent in Paris. The drug maker announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has granted marketing authorization for Xenpozyme (olipudase alfa) to treat acid sphingomyelinase deficiency.
Daimler Truck rose about 1 percent. CEO Martin Daum has said in an interview with Financial Times that the electric truck costs would be higher forever than the internal combustion engine-powered ones.
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