Frankfurt [Germany], November 10: 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, while some rating upgrades also contributed to the upward move.
Oil prices fell sharply following remarks by US President Donald Trump that renewed military strikes on Iran were "highly unlikely" as talks to end their eight-month-old conflictcontinue.
Brent crude front-month futures fell to $92.80 a barrel, losing more than 5 percent.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended up 1.26 percent. Germany's DAX climbed 1.72 percent, France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.16 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 gained 1.02 percent. Switzerland's SMI closed 1.03 percent higher.
Among other European markets, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey all closed higher, posting sharp to moderate gains.
Russia, down modestly, was the only market to end on thenegative side.
In the UK market, miners led the charge. Antofagasta, Anglo American and Fresnillo moved up 6.17 percent, 5.21 percent and 4.97 percent, respectively.
Endeavour Mining climbed 4.7 percent, Glencore rallied 4.1 percent and Rio Tinto gained 2.15 percent.
Babcock International and Rolls-Royce Holdings both ended higher by about 4.8 percent. Lion Finance, IAG, Prudential, BAE Systems, Airtel Africa, Melrose Industries, Standard Chartered, Polar Capital Technology Trust and Investec gained 3-4 percent.
Informa, Balfour Beatty, Games Workshop, Halma, HSBC Holdings, Aberdeen Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Diploma, Barclays, IMI, Lloyds Banking Group and Smiths Group gained 2-3 percent.
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 percent. Siemens Energy gained 5.1 percent. Commerzbank jumped 4 percent after UniCredit raised its price target for the stock.
Rheinmetall gained 3.75 percent, 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 between 1 percent and 3.6 percent.
Siemens Healthineers and Fresenius Medical Care ended lower by 3.2 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Symrise, Deutsche Boerse, Zalando, Beiersdorf and Hannover Re dropped 1.1-1.7 percent. Hannover Re confirmed its 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 percent. Airbus moved up 4.7 percent after launching a multi-year share buyback programme of up to €5 billion through July 2029.
Safran gained about 3.7 percent after being selected for three French nuclear deterrence programmes and securing 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 percent.
Veolia Environment, Vinci, AXA, Saint-Gobain, Bouygues, Kering, Michelin and Danone also posted impressive gains.
Capgemini ended down 2.6 percent. Teleperformance, LVMH, EssilorLuxottica, Edenred, Eurofins Scientific and TotalEnergies shed 1-2.2 percent.
In economic news, Germany's exports recovered more than expected in September, while import growth accelerated, data from Destatis showed.
Exports rose 2 percent on a monthly basis, reversing a 0.4 percent decrease in August. This was also the quickest rise since February. Exports were expected to grow 0.5 percent.
Imports climbed 4.2 percent, much faster than the 0.6 percent rebound recorded a month earlier. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent increase.
Source: Qatar Tribune