European Stocks Close Higher On Rate Cut Hopes, Trump's Treasury Secretary Choice

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Monday with investors reacting positively to news U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.

Bessent, who is supportive of the equity markets, is also a known advocate for deficit reduction. His view that Trump's proposed tariff increases should be implemented gradually is expected to reduce the impact of inflation.

"Bessent is seen as being less aggressive on tariffs than some of the rhetoric espoused by Trump on the campaign trail," according to AJ Bell Investment director Russ Mould.

The positive sentiment in the market was also due to expectations of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank after the central bank's chief economist Phillip Lane said that monetary policy should not remain restrictive for too long and that the job is not done yet on inflation.

Shares of automakers moved higher in the wake of reports that China and the EU are nearing a solution over eliminating tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports into the bloc.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.06%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.36%, Germany's DAX gained 0.43% and France's CAC 40 crept up 0.03%. Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.32%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark, Iceland and Russia ended weak, while Netherlands and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion shares soared 10% following a rating upgrade. Entain rallied 5.56% and EasyJet climbed about 4.25%.

Barratt Redrow, Prudential, IAG, Vistry Group, 3i Group, Halma, Barclays Group, BT Group, Glencore, Centrica, Persimmon, Standard Chartered, Frasers Group, Spirax Group, ICG and Hikma Pharmaceuticals gained 1.5 to 4%.

Anglo American Plc shares found some support after Peabody Energy won a hotly contested battle to buy the miner's steelmaking coal mines in Australia for $3.78bn.

Rentokil Initial gained nearly 2% The commercial pest control services company announced that Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will join the Board as Chief Financial Officer, with effect from January 1, 2025.

Kingfisher tanked 13.25% after lowering its profit outlook. The company now expects adjusted profit before tax of around 510 million pounds to 540 million pounds, compared to previously projected around 510 million pounds to 550 million pounds. The company expects near-term market outlook to remain uncertain.

Fresnillo closed about 3% down. BAE Systemes drifted down 2.7%. BP, Shell, Endeavour Mining, Severn Trent, Haleon, Schrodders and Relx also closed weak, although with much less pronounced losses.

In the German market, Adidas, Porsche, Sartorius, BMW, Siemens, Continental, Puma, Infineon, Siemens Healthineers, Brenntag, Fresenius Medical Care, Mercedes-Benz, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Vonovia, Siemens Energy, E.ON and Hannover Rueck gained 1 to 3%.

Commerzbank closed nearly 5% down. German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said on Sunday he did not expect UniCredit to go ahead with plans for a takeover of the German lender due to objections raised by the government in Berlin.

MTU Aero Engines, Rheinmetall, Daimler Truck Holding and Symrise ended down 1 to 2%.

In the French market, Kering and STMicroElectronics, both ended stronger by more than 5%. Hermes International, Accor, Dassault Systemes, Stellantis, LVMH, Edenred, Eurofins Scientific, L'Oreal and Vivendi gained 1 to 3%.

Thales closed down by about 5%. TotalEnergies, Engie, Danone, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Sanofi lost 0.8 to 2%.

In economic news, German business sentiment softened in November on a notable deterioration in current conditions as economic struggles deepened, survey results from ifo Institute showed. The business climate index fell to 85.7 in November from 86.5 in the previous month. The score was expected to fall moderately to 86.0. At 84.3, the current situation index dropped to the lowest since July 2020.