ROME: European stocks were higher in quiet trade on Monday, as they recovered from the previous week’s bond market selloff, although investors remained cautious amid ongoing concerns over Greece debt negotiations.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.57%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.68%, while Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 1.05%.
Markets were jittery as talks were set to continued this week between Athens, euro area officials and the International Monetary Fund, amid mounting pressure for Greece to seal an agreement for aid as it runs out of cash reserves and time.
Equity markets had weakened last week after German and U.S. bund yields rose to the highest level in five months following a broad based selloff in global bond markets.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) slipped 0.04% and 0.15%, while Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) inched up 0.03% and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) fell 0.16%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) gained 0.98% and 4.26% respectively, while Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) declined 0.12% and 0.40%.
Elsewhere, Edenred (PARIS:EDEN) plunged 2.64% after the Paris-based company that sells prepaid meal vouchers said its chief executive officer will leave on July 31.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 climbed 0.68%, boosted by gains in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) advanced 0.90% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 1.41%, while Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) rallied 1.57% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) surged 3.62%.
