FX.co ★ European Stocks Close On Firm Note

European stocks concluded Monday's trading session with gains, buoyed by declining bond yields and a mix of corporate announcements. Investors also anticipated upcoming economic data releases, the U.S. Presidential debate, and France's snap parliamentary elections.

Sentiment was further supported by expectations of interest rate cuts by central banks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced by 0.73%. The FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose by 0.53%, Germany's DAX increased by 0.89%, and France's CAC 40 climbed by 1.03%. Switzerland's SMI saw a robust gain of 1.2%.

Elsewhere in Europe, stocks in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden posted moderate to sharp gains.

Iceland and the Netherlands saw slight gains, while Russia closed significantly lower, and Turkey ended marginally down.

In the U.K. market, Prudential surged by 7.3% following the insurer's announcement of a $2 billion share buyback program.

Frasers Group rose by approximately 4% after it reconfirmed its targets and announced a partnership with the THG tech platform.

Other notable gainers included Burberry Group, Antofagasta, JD Sports Fashion, BT Group, WPP, and Associated British Foods, all rising between 2% and 4%.

IMI, British American Tobacco, Ashtead Group, Phoenix Group Holdings, Convatec Group, St. James's Place, Halma, Next, and Segro also performed strongly.

Conversely, Berkeley Group Holdings declined by approximately 2.1%. National Grid, Smurfit Kappa Group, Auto Trader Group, Smith & Nephew, Sainsbury (J), B&M European Value Retail, 3i Group, and Marks & Spencer also saw notable declines.

In Germany, automakers rallied after China and the European Union agreed to begin discussions on the EU's proposal to impose tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.

Covestro soared by 5%, while Siemens Energy gained around 4%. Fresenius Medical Care, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Sartorius, Bayer, BASF, and Brenntag saw increases between 2% and 3%.

Additionally, Daimler Truck Holding, Siemens, Porsche, HeidelbergCement, Henkel, and Symrise posted significant gains.

However, Zalando dropped nearly 4% following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley to "equal weight" from "overweight". SAP also declined by about 1%.

In France, BNP Paribas and Sanofi led the market with gains exceeding 3%. Edenred, Publicis Groupe, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Pernod Ricard, Accor, Stellantis, Safran, Veolia, Unibail-Rodamco, and LVMH rose between 1.3% and 2.5%.

Eurofins Scientific plummeted over 16% after Muddy Waters suggested a "short" position on the stock.

Belgian pharmaceutical firm arGEN-X soared by 9% as it received U.S. regulatory approval for Vyvgart Hytrulo, a treatment for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

On the economic front, Germany's business sentiment weakened in June, with the ifo Institute's business confidence index dropping to a three-month low of 88.6 from 89.3 in May, contrary to expectations of a slight rise to 89.7.

In the U.K., the Confederation of British Industry reported an upturn in total orders for June, despite a significant drop in export orders. The order book balance improved to -18% in June from -33% in May, surpassing economists' forecasts of -25%.