European Stocks Close Higher As China Stimulus Aids Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Monday, led by gains in technology sector. Shares from automobile, banking and industrials sectors gained as well.

China's stimulus to ease market unrest and drive economic growth, helped underpin sentiment. Chinese authorities announced a slew of measures over the weekend to bolster the country's equity markets and fuel an increase in spending. The measures included a 50% reduction in stamp duty on stock trades and a slower pace of initial public offerings.

China's securities regulator also approved the launch of 37 retail funds.

Investors looked ahead to a slew of crucial earnings and economic data from the U.S. and Europe.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.89%. Germany's DAX gained 1.03% and France's CAC 40 firmed 1.32%, while Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.69%. The U.K. market remained closed for Late Summer Bank Holiday.

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

In the German market, Commerzbank, Zalando and Deutsche Bank climbed 2.3 to 2.5%.

Infineon, Sartorius, Energizer Holdings, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, Daimler Truck, Heico, COntinental, Deutsche Post, Siemens, Autolive, Merck, DTE Energy and Brenntag gained 1 to 2%.

In Paris, Teleperformance rallied more than 5%. BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Hermes International, Airbus Group, Worldline, Safran, STMicroElectronics, LVMH, Unibail Rodamco, Renault, Saint Gobain, AAR, Schneider Electric, Vinci and ArcelorMittal gained 1.4 to 2%.

Publicis Groupe, Societe Generale, Kering, Eurofins Scientific, Alstom, Thales and Essilor also ended notably higher.

In Switzerland, Novartis AG advanced 0.8% after its unit Sandoz completed acquiring the worldwide brand rights of the antifungal agent Mycamine from Japan's Astellas Pharma.

In economic news, official data from the European Central Bank showed Eurozone broad money supply posted its first decline in more than a decade, and bank lending grew at a slower pace in July as higher borrowing costs dampen the growth outlook.

The monetary aggregate M3 dropped 0.4% from a year ago after rising 0.6% in June, the data showed. This was the first fall since May 2010, when M3 was down 0.1%. M3 was forecast to remain flat.