BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets got off to a positive start to the new trading week, but began to pared their early gains after the first few hours of trade. The markets ended the session with mixed results.
Easing concerns over a potential trade war between the U.S. and China provided an early boost to the markets Monday. The U.S. appeared to soften its stance on the subject over the weekend, suggesting that a trade war could be avoided through negotiations. However, China still says negotiations are out of the question until the U.S. backs down further.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.06 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.20 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.01 percent.
The DAX of Germany climbed 0.17 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.10 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.15 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.18 percent.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank climbed 1.04 percent on reports that the bank's supervisory board is favoring retail-banking chief Christian Sewing, a German who has spent his entire career at the lender, as its next chief executive officer to replace John Cryan.
Adidas dropped 0.79 percent. The Financial Times reported that the sportswear giant is closing down some stores in the coming years as part of efforts to boost its online presence.
In London, Rolls-Royce rose 1.24 percent. The engine maker is selling its German-based diesel parts maker L'Orange to U.S.-based engineering company Woodward Inc for 700 million euros.
Centamin lost 4.56 percent after its first-quarter gold production fell on a quarterly basis.
Pharmaceutical firm Novartis slid 0.13 percent in Zurich after it announced an agreement to acquire the U.S.-based clinical stage gene therapy company AveXis, Inc. for a total of $8.7 billion in cash.
Pump maker Sulzer tumbled 15.99 percent and technology group Oerlikon lost 8.41 percent after their majority holder Viktor Vekselberg was included in the US' latest round of sanctions against Russia.
Eurozone investor confidence declined notably in April on fears of trade war, survey data from think tank Sentix showed Monday. The investor sentiment index fell to 19.6 in April from 24.0 in March. The score was forecast to remain unchanged at 24.0.
Germany's exports declined the most in more than two years in February amid fears of trade wars, data showed Monday.
Exports fell unexpectedly by 3.2 percent month-on-month in February, figures from Destatis revealed.
This was the second consecutive decrease and the biggest fall since August 2015, when exports slid 6.1 percent. Shipments were forecast to rise 0.2 percent, reversing January's 0.4 percent decrease.
At the same time, imports declined 1.3 percent on month after falling 0.2 percent in January. Economists had forecast imports to climb 0.5 percent.
As the decline in exports exceeded the fall in imports, the trade surplus decreased to a seasonally adjusted EUR 19.2 billion from EUR 21.5 billion a month ago.
UK house prices grew at a faster than expected pace in March, data from the Lloyds bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed Monday.
House prices increased 1.5 percent month-on-month in March. The monthly increase was forecast to slow to 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent in February. A similar faster growth was last seen in August 2017.
In three months to March, house prices increased 2.7 percent from the previous year, following 1.8 percent increase seen in three months to February. Prices were forecast to rise at a slower pace of 2 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX