European Stocks Close Higher After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Monday amid continued optimism about economic recovery and slightly fading concerns about any possibility of the Federal Reserve or other central banks tapering their asset buying programs.

Investors also reacted positively to reports saying that the vaccination drive is gaining momentum in several countries across the world.

European Central Bank President's comments on continuance of stimulus till economic recovery proved sustainable aided sentiment.

The Fed is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement that the next phase of England's lockdown reopening will be delayed by four weeks due to a surge of the Delta variant of Covid-19 weighed on stocks and limited their upside.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.18%. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.24%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 moved up 0.18% and Germany's DAX slid 0.13%. Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.21%.

The U.K.'s benchmark hit a 16-month high, France's CAC 40 hit its highest level in nearly 21 years, and Germany's DAX hit a new record before paring gains.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended with strong gains. Czech Republic, Greece, Netherlands and Sweden closed modestly higher.

Iceland, Ireland and Turkey closed weak.

In the UK market, Royal Dutch Shell rallied 2.7%. ICP, Halma, BP, Smurfit Kappa Group, Sage Group, Auto Trader Group, Admiral Group, Segro, Ashtead Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Persimmon and Croda International Group gained 1 to 2.3%.

Shares of Ted Baker rallied despite the company reporting a wider loss for its fiscal 2021. Investors reacted positively to the company's statement that the performance of Ted Baker stores since their reopening in April was "very pleasing".

IAG and Rolls-Royce Holdings both tumbled by over 4%. Associated British Foods, Informa, Johnson & Matthey, Just Eat Takeaway, Whitbread, IHG, Flutter Entertainment, CRH, Lloyds Banking Group and Melrose Industries lost 1 to 3%.

In the German market, SAP, Thyssenkrupp, E.ON., RWE, Infineon Technologies and Henkel closed with sharp to moderate gains, while Covestro, Volkswagen, Continental, Deutsche Bank and Daimler ended notably lower.

In France, Total, Dassault Systemes, Publicis Groupe and Vinci posted notable gains, while Valeo, Technip, Faurecia, Air France-KLM and ArcelorMittal ended sharply lower.

In economic news, Eurozone industrial production grew 0.8% on a monthly basis in April, faster than the 0.4% increase seen in March,, data from Eurostat showed. This was the second consecutive rise in production and matched economists' expectations.

Production of durable consumer goods advanced 3.4% and that of energy grew 3.2%. Capital goods production grew 1.4% and intermediate goods by 0.8%. Meanwhile, the production of non-durable consumer goods fell 0.3%.

On a yearly basis, industrial production surged 39.3% versus 11.5% rise in March. Production was forecast to climb 37.4%.

Switzerland's producer and import prices increased in May, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Producer and import prices rose 3.2% year-on-year in May.

The producer price index increased 1.6% annually in May and import prices accelerated 6.4%. On a monthly basis, producer and import prices increased 0.8% in May.