BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets closed on a firm note on Monday as a drop in oil prices and softening bond yields helped underpin sentiment. Higher precious metals prices lifted mining stocks, and some rating upgrades contributed as well to the move up north.
Oil prices fell sharply following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that renewed military strikes on Iran were 'highly unlikely' while talks to end their eight-month-old conflict continue.
Brent crude front-month futures fell to $92.80 a barrel, losing more than 5%.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up by 1.26%. Germany's DAX climbed 1.72%, France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.16% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.02%. Switzerland's SMI closed 1.03% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye all closed higher, posting sharp to moderate gains.
Russia, down modestly, was the only market to end on the negative side today.
In the UK market, miners led the charge. Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Fresnillo moved up 6.17%, 5.21% and 4.97%, respectively. Endeavour Mining climbed 4.7%, Glencore rallied 4.1% and Rio Tinto gained 2.15%.
Babcock International and Rolls-Royce Holdings both ended higher by about 4.8%. Lion Finance, IAG, Prudential, BAE Systems, Airtel Africa, Melrose Industries, Standard Chartered, Polar Capital Technology Trust and Investec gained 3%-4%.
Informa, Balfour Beatty, Games Workshop, Halma, HSBC Holdings, Aberdeen Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Diploma, Barclays, IMI, Lloyds Banking Group, IMI and Smiths Group gained 2%-3%.
Imperial Brands, Haleon, Whitbread, British American Tobacco, Relx, BT Group, Smith & Nephew, Pearson, Experian and Croda International ended notably lower.
In the German market, Infineon moved up nearly 6%. Siemens Energy gained 5.1%. Commerzbank jumped 4% thanks to UniCredit raising the stock's target.
Rheinmetall gained 3.75%, rebounding strongly from recent weakness. Heidelberg Materials, Daimler Truck Holding, Continental, Gea Group, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, MTU Aero Engines, Vonovia, RWE, Adidas, Bayer, Allianz and Deutsche Post gained 1%-3.6%.
Siemens Healthineers and Fresenius Medical Care ended lower by 3.2% and 2.7%, respectively. Symrise, Deutsche Boerse, Zalando, Beiersdorf and Hannover RE dropped 1.1%-1.7%. Hannover RE confirmed full-year group net income target of at least €2.7 billion after third-quarter profit beat expectations.
In the French market, STMicroElectronics climbed 5.6%. Airbus moved up 4.7% after launching a multi-year share buyback program of up to €5 billion through July 2029.
Safran gained about 3.7% after the company got selected for three French nuclear deterrence programs and secured a contract to supply inertial navigation systems for the country's nuclear deterrent.
Legrand, ArcelorMittal, Thales, Schneider Electric, Sanofi, Societe Generale, Accor, BNP Paribas and Engie gained 2%-3.7%.
Veolia Environment, Vinci, AXA, Saint-Gobain, Bouygues, Kering, Michelin and Danone also posted impressive gains.
Capgemini ended down 2.6%. Teleperformance, LVMH, EssilorLuxottica, Edenred, Eurofins Scientific and TotalEnergies shed 1%-2.2%.
In economic news, Germany's exports recovered more-than-expected in September, while the growth in imports accelerated, data from Destatis showed.
Exports rose 2% on a monthly basis, reversing a 0.4% decrease in August. Moreover, this was the quickest rise since February. Exports were expected to grow 0.5%. Imports climbed 4.2%, much faster than the 0.6% rebound a month ago. Economists had expected a 0.5% increase.
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