European stocks closed higher Monday afternoon, as concerns over Brexit progress, a potential slowdown in the Chinese economy and higher U.S. borrowing costs limited investor appetite.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up around 0.6 percent, with more sectors and major bourses in positive territory than negative.
Many investors remained in a cautious mood on Monday, following an abrupt market shakeout in the previous trading week. The global sell-off was blamed on a series of factors, including the impact of a U.S.-China trade war, a spike in U.S. bond yields and nervousness ahead of earnings season.
Europe's industrial and financial stocks led the losses Monday, both sectors down 0.7 percent.
Britain's Hays was among the worst sectoral performers, with shares slipping over 3 percent after Kepler Cheuvreux cut its target price for the stock.
Looking at another individual stock, Britain's Convatec tumbled to the bottom of the FTSE 250. This after CEO Paul Moraviec told the company's board he wished to retire. The global medical products and technologies firm also cut its full-year forecast on Monday, prompting shares to tank almost 30 percent.
Brexit talks
Back in Europe, investors were seen looking ahead to a crucial European summit on Wednesday. Negotiators from the U.K. and European Union failed to clinch a Brexit deal over the weekend, with both sides citing unresolved issues relating to frontier checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The British pound traded at 1.3146 against the dollar buy the end of Monday afternoon in London, little changed from the previous session.
Oil prices rose while stocks in Saudi Arabia tumbled followingĀ heightened diplomatic tensions between Riyadh and the West. The kingdom has threatened to punish any countries that are considering sanctions over the disappearance in Turkey of a Saudi journalist.
In the United States, stocks rose slightly on Monday morning as Wall Street tried to recover from a 4 percent drop in U.S. major indices last week.