European Stocks Close Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed modestly higher on Monday, despite seeing some weakness during the course of the session, as investors stayed largely cautious amid lingering concerns about the tensions in the Middle East, and worries about interest rates and inflation.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan said his country "has no interest" in occupying Gaza but will do "whatever is needed" to eliminate the Palestinian Hamas militant group which controls the densely populated coastal enclave.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.23%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.41%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.34% and France's CAC 40 ended 0.27% up, while Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.1%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain closed higher.

Norway and Sweden edged up marginally, while Denmark, Iceland and Turkiye ended weak.

In the UK market, mining stocks Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore gained as base metal prices rose on optimism around demand from top consumer China.

St. James's Place shares rallied more than 5%. TUI, Just Eat Takeway.com, Next, ITV, Pennon, Hargreaves Lansdown, Rio Tinto, Severn Trent, Entain, JD Sports Fashion and United Utilities gained 2 to 4%.

Anglo American, Persimmon, ICP, WPP, Prudential, British American Tobacco, Associated British Foods, Glencore and BT also ended notably higher.

Ferguson declined 2.7%. Intertek, Experian and Croda International lost 0.8 to 1.6%. GlaxoSmithKline drifted lower despite getting positive CHMP opinion for its Jemperli drug.

In the German market, Commerzbank climbed nearly 5%. Zalando surged 4%, while Deutsche Bank, Adidas, Fresenius Medical Care, Qiagen and BASF gained 1 to 1.8%.

Sartorius dropped 3.2%. Covestro ended 2.7% down, while Fresenius ended lower by 1.4%.

In Paris, WorldLine, Unibail Rodamco and ArcelorMittal gained about 2.7%, 2.2% and 2%, respectively. Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard, Credit Agricole, Teleperformance and Michelin also ended notably higher.

On the economic front, Germany's wholesale prices declined at the fastest pace in more than three years in September, data from Destatis showed.

Wholesale prices posted an annual fall of 4.1% in September largely due to a base effect originating from the large price increases in 2022 as a result of the war in Ukraine. Prices have been falling since April 2023. The latest fall was the biggest since May 2020.

The euro area trade balance registered a surplus in August largely due to the fall in oil import costs, data from Eurostat showed on Monday.

On an unadjusted basis, the trade balance posted a surplus of EUR 6.7 billion compared to a sharp deficit of EUR 54.4 billion in the same period last year.

Imports plunged 24.6% on a yearly basis, while exports dropped only 3.9%. Month-on-month, exports posted an increase of 1.6%, while imports decreased 2% from July.