Europe stocks move higher following G-20 talks; Eurogroup meeting eyed
Stock markets in Europe were higher Monday morning, extending gains seen across and Asia.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was firmly in the black, with all sectors and major bourses trading in positive territory. The region followed Asia in piggybacking off Wall Street’s strong performance late last week when U.S. June employment data emerged stronger than expected.
Banks and technology stocks were among the best performers in early deals, trading up more than half of a percent, as investors regained faith in these sectors following a brief lull earlier in the month.
The oil and gas sector was also trading higher ahead of a major oil conference in Istanbul. Brent oil was up 0.15 percent at $46.78 per barrel while U.S. crude was 0.14 percent higher at $44.30 per barrel. Early Monday, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco said he is “increasingly worried” by the long-term oil situation and announced plans to invest more than $300 billion over the next decade to reinforce the company’s “preeminent position in oil.”
Looking at individual stocks, Air France-KLM was up nearly 3 percent after reporting strong second-quarter bookings — an indication that interest in the French holiday market may be returning after a lull prompted by security concerns last year.
Sweden’s Alfa Laval was up by the same amount after receiving a rating upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Meanwhile, Lufthansa was trading lower after UBS cut its rating of the business from “buy” to “neutral”.
Monday will see euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels for a Eurogroup meeting and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will visit British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Also on the agenda, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in Istanbul to meet with the Turkish government to discuss bilateral and regional issues ahead of a major oil conference. This comes as the city saw a major anti-government protest rally on Sunday.
G-20 aftermath
World leaders met over the weekend in Hamburg at the 12th annual G-20 talks, during which global issues such as trade, climate change and defense were discussed. During the talks, President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time and discussed forming “an impenetrable cybersecurity unit” – an idea he has since retracted. Reports later emerged suggesting that Trump’s son was involved in meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to discuss damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s electoral bid came under pressure after protests broke out in the German port city, injuring more than 200 police officers. The chancellor is hoping running for her fourth term in September’s general election.
Source: CNBC
