European equities closed higher by a small margin on Monday afternoon as concerns over a trade war between China and the U.S. dissipated slightly ahead of a key speech Tuesday.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered close to the flat line, closing just 0.06 percent higher with sectors moving in different directions. It had been trading higher earlier in the day.
Technology was the best performing sector, closing up 0.67 percent. It was tailed by the media, travel and leisure, and insurance sectors, which all closed roughly 0.4 percent higher.
Basic resources closed 0.9 percent down after a rocky day's trading. It had fallen over 1.6 percent earlier in the afternoon. The sector was dragged down by Russian miner Polymetal, which closed at the bottom of the European benchmark 18.3 percent lower.
Banking stocks pared back the gains made in morning trade, which were in response to news of a chief executive change at Deutsche Bank. The sector closed up 0.3 percent.
The German lender appointed Christian Sewing as its new chief executive officer, taking effect immediately. The German national is a retail bank specialist, which has raised some doubts about his ability to restore the investment banking side of the lender. However, the announcement ended weeks of leaks and uncertainty about the future of its management. While Deutsche Bank was trading over 4 percent higher in the morning, it closed up by a more modest 1.2 percent Monday afternoon.
Looking across the European benchmark, Portuguese company EDP closed up 3.2 percent, making it Monday's second best performing stock. This followed reports that French utility firm Engie is looking at bidding for EDP.
Glencore, on the other hand, tumbled during Monday's trade, closing down 3.4 percent. But, the U.K.-Swiss mining firm had pared back losses from hours earlier given that it was down by 5.2 percent mid-afternoon. The drop came after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Russia's Rusal. Glencore owns 8.75 percent of the Russian aluminum company. OC Oerlikon also saw its shares fall more than 8 percent after one of its biggest shareholders appeared on a list of U.S. sanctioned individuals.
British firm WPP, the world's largest advertising agency, closed near the top of the European benchmark Monday, up 2.2 percent. Reuters reported at midday that the company could publish its investigation into Chief Executive Martin Sorrell as soon as next week. Sorrell is under investigation for allegations of misconduct which could prompt him to step down after more than 30 years at the helm.
In other corporate news, Adidas is reportedly closing down some stores in the coming years as it boosts its online presence, the Financial Times reported. The stock swung throughout the day's trading, closing 0.5 percent in the red.
Overall, global trade war fears dissipated from last week's trading. Market players will monitor Chinese President Xi Jinping who will speak at the Boao Forum Tuesday, after President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that China could remove its trade barriers.
US stocks open higher
Stateside, stocks traded higher as the Trump administration tried to soften its tone regarding U.S.-China trade relations. Strong gains in tech also helped the major indexes surge.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 300 points, with Merck and Intel as the best-performing stocks in the index. The S&P 500 gained 1.3 percent, with tech surging 2 percent. The Nasdaq composite advanced 1.7 percent.