European Stocks Close Higher

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Monday as some bargain hunting after recent losses, and optimism about growth pushed up prices a bit.

Worries about the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus, and concerns over fresh regulatory crackdown on Chinese firms limited markets' gains.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.29%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.58%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.59% and Germany's DAX gained 0.2%. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.12%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain closed with strong gains.

Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece and Netherlands ended modestly higher.

Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden closed weak, while Turkey ended flat.

In the UK market, Royal Mail, Lloyds Banking Group, Pershing Square Holdings, National Grid, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Standard Chartered, Barclays, IAG, Barratt Developments and Aviva gained 2 to 3%.

Associated British Foods ended nearly 3% down after fourth-quarter sales at its Primark fashion business came in below estimates.

Auto Trader Group, Burberry Group, Scottish Mortgage, Aveva Group, Pearson, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, B&M European Retail and Entain lost 1 to 3%.

Technip, up more than 6%, was the top gainer in France's CAC 40 index. The stock after the company agreed to sell a stake in spin-off firm Technip Energies.

Safran, Renault, BNP Paribas, Engie, Air France-KLM and Valeo gained 2 to 2.6%. Faurecia, Unibail Rodamco and Thales also rose sharply.

Kering shares declined more than 3%. Carrefour, Dassault Systemes and LVMH ended lower by 0.5 to 1%.

In Germany, Continental and Daimler both gained nearly 4%. BMW rallied by about 3%. Thyssenkrupp, Deutsche Bank, HeidelbergCement, BASF, Munich RE, E.ON and Bayer also ended with strong gains.

German online pet supplies' retailer Zooplus AG jumped 9%. Zorro Bidco, a holding company controlled by funds advised by Hellman & Friedman, raised its takeover offer for the company to 3.29 billion euros ($3.89 billion) from an initial offer of 3 billion euros.

Puma shares ended nearly 3% down. Infineon Technologies shed about 1.25%.

In economic releases, German wholesale prices grew at the fastest pace since 1974 in August amid sharp increases in raw material and intermediate product prices, Destatis reported.

Wholesale prices increased 12.3% on a yearly basis, following July's 11.3% in July. This was the strongest growth since October 1974, when prices were up 13.2% in the wake of the first oil crisis.

The German economy is set to log a noticeable growth in the third quarter before normalizing in the fourth quarter, the economy ministry said on Monday.

However, the further spread of the new coronavirus mutations and their influence on the infection process could cloud the outlook, the ministry said in its monthly report.

According to official estimate, the largest euro area economy recovered in the second quarter, with economic output rising 1.6%.