A charged tone has taken hold of European markets this Monday as financial sector strength has pushed equities to levels not seen in weeks. Momentum is building ahead of several central bank meetings globally, with investors keenly watching signals from the Fed in particular.
Banks led the advance, especially rate-sensitive names, helping the STOXX 600 index to rise about 0.5%. In Germany, defence stocks saw gains amid renewed geopolitical tensions. France’s markets also stood firm: despite a recent Fitch downgrade of its sovereign credit, the CAC 40 rallied roughly 1.2% to hit its highest point in around three weeks. Among banks such as SocGen, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole, each gained over 1%. UBS saw a notable jump (≈1.7%) following reports that it is considering relocating parts of its business to the U.S. to sidestep proposed capital rules in Switzerland.
Elsewhere, Rubis, the French fuel retailer, surged over 7% after news that CVC Capital Partners and Trafigura had submitted bids for the company, lifting it to the top of the STOXX 600. Conversely, Orsted dropped more than 2% after pricing a large rights issue at a steep discount of about two-thirds relative to its previous share value.
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