European Stocks Close Broadly Higher

European markets closed largely higher on Monday with investors picking up stocks, looking ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement due later in the week.

There are expectations that the ECB will deliver its first interest-rate cut of the cycle on Thursday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.32%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.06%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.15%. Switzerland’s SMI crept up 0.05%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark and Russia ended weak.

In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion, St. James’s Place, Entain, EasyJet, Land Securities, Ocado Group, IAG, 3i Group, Rightmove, Airtel Africa, M&G and National Grid gained 2 to 5%.

Natwest Group, Frasers Group, BT Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Kingfisher also ended sharply higher.

GSK tanked nearly 10% after a state court in Delaware found legitimate evidence that links its Zantac heartburn drug to cancer, allowing more than 70,000 lawsuits over these cases.

Ashtead Group ended down 2.8%. Pearson, BP, Severn Trent, Compass Group, ICG and Shell lost 1 to 1.7%.

In the German market, RWE, Siemens Energy, Hannover Rueck, Qiagen, Porsche, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Bayer, E.ON, Puma, Rheinmetall and Siemens gained 1 to 2.3%.

Brenntag, Commerzbank, BASF, Sartorius, Siemens Heathineers and Henkel closed weak.

In the French market, Carrefour rallied about 2.7%. Teleperformance, STMicroElectronics, Publicis Groupe, Orange, Kering, Air Liquide, Vivendi and Pernod Ricard gained 1 to 2.3%.

TotalEnergies and Societe Generale declined sharply. Dassault Systemes, Legrand and L’Oreal also closed weak.

On the economic front, downturn in the euro area manufacturing activity softened in May as production moved closer to stabilization and orders fell at a slower pace amid the rising business sentiment, final HCOB survey results from S&P Global showed.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a fourteen-month high of 47.3 in May from 45.7 in April. The flash estimate was 47.4.

The UK manufacturing sector returned to growth in May as production grew the most in more than two years on improved order intakes, final survey data released by S&P Global revealed.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index advanced to 51.2 in May from 49.1 in April. This was the highest reading since July 2022 but a tick below the initial estimate of 51.3.