Europe’s main stock index opened at a two-week high on Monday, buoyed by the nomination of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary and optimistic remarks from the European Central Bank’s chief economist regarding monetary policy easing.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.5% by 0810 GMT, driven by gains in basic resources and personal and household goods sectors.
Wall Street futures also advanced, alongside a drop in U.S. Treasury yields, following Trump’s choice of fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary. Bessent is expected to maintain control over U.S. debt levels.
Additionally, ECB chief economist Philip Lane emphasized that monetary policy should not remain restrictive for too long, while noting that inflation is likely to take longer to return to the 2% target.
Among individual stocks, Italy’s UniCredit fell 2% after announcing a surprise €10 billion ($10.45 billion) all-share offer for smaller domestic competitor Banco BPM, which saw its shares rise 5%.
Commerzbank dropped 6% as investors weighed the potential impact of the offer on the German lender’s anticipated buyout deal with UniCredit.
Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) gained 2% following the miner’s announcement of plans to sell its Australian steelmaking coal mines for up to $3.78 billion.
(Exchange rate: $1 = €0.9569)
