BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed higher on Monday, extending recent gains, amid hopes the Federal Reserve will start reducing interest rates from September, and on some monetary easing by central banks in Europe as well.
Investors looked ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium this week.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.61%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.55%, Germany's DAX ended 0.54% up, and France's CAC 40 closed up 0.7%, while Switzerland's SMI settled with a gain of 0.71%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.
Russia ended weak, while Denmark and Greece closed flat.
Aerospace and defense stocks inched lower after reports suggested that Germany, the second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine, plans to halve its military aid to Kyiv in 2025 due to spending cuts.
In the UK market, Barratt Developments rallied about 3.5%. The stock surged higher following the company clearing a regulatory hurdle in its acquisition of Redrow.
Glencore, Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, Burberry Group, Anglo American Plc, 3i Group, RightMove, Next, Rio Tinto, Frasers Group, Ashtead Group, Centrica, JD Sports Fashion, Persimmon and Vistry Group gained 1.5 to 3%.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals ended 1.55% down. Spirax Group, Admiral Group, BAE Systems, Rentokil Initial, EasyJet and Pershing Square Holdings lost 0.6 to 1%.
In the German market, Zalando climbed about 3%. Porsche, Puma, Brenntag, Mercedes-Benz, Merck, Continental, Deutsche Post, BASF, BMW, RWE, Volkswagen, Sartorius and Vonovia gained 1 to 1.8%.
Rheinmetall dropped about 1.85%. Covestro, Henkel and Symrise ended modestly lower.
In the French market, Stellantis, Kering, LVMH and ArcelorMittal gained 2.3 to 2.6%. Teleperformance, Hermes International, Vivendi, Unibail Rodamco, Edenred, Bouygues, Veolia, Legrand and Michelin gained 1 to 1.5%.
Thales, Essilor, Air Liquide, Safran and Sanofi closed weak.
On the economic front, UK house prices declined in August in line with the long-term average as some buyers put their home-moving plans on hold to enjoy holidays, while the Bank of England's interest rate reduction lifted buyer demand, data published by the property website Rightmove showed.
House prices posted a seasonal drop of 1.5% in August after a 0.4 percent drop in July. Asking prices have fallen in the month of August over the last 18 years, and the size of drop matched the long-term average.
On a yearly basis, the growth in house prices doubled to 0.8% from 0.4% in the previous month.
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