European markets finished Monday on a positive note after oil prices staged a strong comeback, posting gains of as much as 3 percent during trade.
European markets
The pan-European STOXX 600 ended trade up 0.69 percent provisionally. All sectors closed in positive territory, with the exception of travel and leisure.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished up 0.75 percent, the French CAC 40 popped 1.06 percent while the German DAX sped ahead, closing up 1.27 percent.
Oil prices saw a strong recovery on Monday afternoon after Russia said it was prepared to join a proposed deal to cap the production seen in the oil market in order to tackle the global glut issue. Prices had initially fell during Asia's trade on fading hopes of a deal, yet gained momentum during Europe's trade, providing a boost to U.S. stocks.
Up more than 2.5 percent at Europe's close, Brent hovered around $53.35, while U.S. WTI jumped 3 percent at Europe's close, trading at $51.36 per barrel. Meanwhile, a solid uptick in metal prices made basic resources one of the best performing sectors of the day, with ArcelorMittal, BHP Billiton and Anglo American all closing up above 2 percent.
Market focus was also on the U.S. on Monday, following the second televised TV debate between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. Most commentators and analysts believed no clear winner emerged from the debate on Sunday night, however.
Elsewhere stateside, investors are expected to still digest the nonfarm payrolls data released Friday, which showed that the U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in September, coming in below expectations.
William Hill, Amaya in merger talks
In early trade, Deutsche Bank fell more than 3 percent on reports that the embattled German lender had yet to achieve a settlement deal with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations it mis-sold mortgage-backed securities. The bank however shot back up in later trade, to close up over 3 percent.
Meanwhile, several Italian banks outperformed the broader market, with Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano both closing up around 6 percent or more. This helped lift Italy's FTSE MIB index, which closed up 1.38 percent.
Meanwhile, William Hill shares jumped 2.78 percent after the bookmaker confirmed that it was in merger talks with Canada's Amaya.
Shares in Osram shot up to the top of the STOXX 600 in late morning trade, after Chinese chipmaker Sanan Optoelectronics said it planned to release a statement concerning the reported interest in the German lighting company soon. However, Osram shares fell into the red later on, closing down 1.58 percent, after Sanan said it had only had one face-to-face meeting with the firm regarding a potential acquisition or deal, Reuters reported.
Dialog Semiconductor finished up 2.33 percent after Credit Suisse, Exane BNP Paribas and RBC all raised their price target on the stock.
Rolls-Royce ended higher after JPMorgan raised its price target for the U.K. engineering firm; however easyJet fell more than 2 percent, after Societe Generale cut its rating on the stock from "hold" to "sell"; Reuters reported citing a trader.