BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed higher on Monday amid reports Western nations have called for new sanctions on Moscow after Ukraine accused Russia of carrying out a 'massacre' in the town of Bucha.
After staying somewhat sluggish till around mid afternoon, markets gained in strength on selective buying. Worries about inflation and looming policiy tightening by central banks capped markets' gains.
Russian law enforcement agency has reportedly launched its own investigation into allegations that Ukrainian civilians were massacred in suburbs of Kyiv which were held by Russian troops, focusing on what it calls 'false information' about Russian forces.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden has called for war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine.
Markets digested a couple of data from the euro area, and looked ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting, which could provide some clues about the central bank's policy outlook following the decision to lift interest rates last month by 25 basis points.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.84%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.28%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.5% and France's CAC surged up 0.7%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 1.33% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed higher.
Austria, Denmark, Norway and Poland drifted lower, while Czech Republic ended flat.
In the UK market, Aveva Group, Flutter Entertainment, JD Sports Fashion, RightMove, Hargreaves Lansdown, Berkeley Group Holdings, Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Ocado Group, B&M European Value Retail, Endeavour Mining, Melrose Industries, Entain and Halma gained 2 to 4%.
Oil & gas firm I3 Energy soared more than 17% after increasing its revenue forecast.
Standard Chartered, Rio Tinto, Aviva, M&G, Natwest Group, Croda International, Tesco and Lloyds Banking Group shed 1 to 1.7%.
In the German market, HelloFresh climbed more than 4%. Bayer gained about 3.5%, while Continental, Puma and SAP gained 2 to 2.35%. Symrise, Zalando, BMW and Volkswagen also ended notably higher.
Delivery Hero shares zoomed more than 10% after the company announced a 1.4 billion euro in debt financing.
Merck, Munich RE, Siemens, Deutsche Post, BASF and Infineon Technologies ended on a weak note.
In Paris, Valeo, Faurecia and Thales gained 3.2 to 4%. CapGemini, Hermes International, Dassault Systemes, Essilor, Atos, LVMH, WorldLine, Renault, Sanofi and Kering gained 1.5 to 3%.
AXA ended lower by 1.8%. Vinci, Sodexo and Societe Generale lost 1 to 1.4%. Bouygues, Unibail Rodamco and Safran also closed weak.
Swiss drug major Roche gained about 3.1% after the U.S. FDA granted Priority Review for Actemra (tocilizumab) intravenous to treat Covid-19 in hospitalized adults.
Novartis advanced 1.4 percent as it unveiled plans to integrate its pharmaceuticals and oncology units into an innovative medicines business.
In economic releases, German exports grew 6.4% on a monthly basis, reversing a 3% fall in January, Destatis reported. Shipments were forecast to climb 1.5%.
Likewise, imports advanced 4.5% in February, in contrast to the 4% fall a month ago. Economists had expected a monthly growth of 1.4%.
Eurozone's investor sentiment deteriorated in April amid the Russia-Ukraine war, the latest data published by the Sentix research group showed. The corresponding index plunged to -18 from -7 in March.
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