European stock markets stabilized and moved higher on Monday, recovering from a sharp drop on Friday that was caused by renewed tensions in the US-China trade war.
The overall STOXX 600 pan-European index climbed 0.6%, recovering a significant portion of the losses seen after US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose 100% taxes on Chinese goods.
The market mood improved after Trump softened his tone over the weekend. The gains were driven mainly by increases in technology and mining stocks.
Among national markets, France’s CAC 40 led the way, rising 0.9%, after the country quickly reappointed Sebastien Lecornu as Prime Minister, just four days after his resignation.
Individual stocks also saw big moves: AstraZeneca rose 0.7% after it agreed to a deal with the US government to sell some medicines at a discount in exchange for relief from tariffs.
German software firm PSI Software soared 37% after confirming that private equity firm Warburg Pincus would buy the company for over 700 million euros.
Finally, French firm Exosens jumped nearly 13% after a Greek night vision company announced plans to buy a significant stake in it.
On the FX front, the US dollar was slightly weaker overall on Monday, though it showed mixed results against individual currencies.
The index that tracks the dollar’s value against a group of major currencies dipped 0.1%. The euro remained stable against the dollar at $1.1622.
However, the dollar grew stronger against the Japanese yen, rising 0.5% to 151.89 yen.
Meanwhile, the Chinese currency, the offshore yuan, gained 0.2% after reports showed China’s export growth was strong in September.
Other currencies also saw gains against the dollar: the Australian dollar jumped 0.8%, the New Zealand dollar rose 0.3%, and the British pound edged up 0.1%.
Currency Power Balance