European stocks traded higher Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on additional tariffs in a bid to reignite trade talks.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.9% higher in afternoon trade, slightly cutting its early surge after weak euro zone PMI data. Technology stocks led gains, up nearly 2% having hit a 1-year high earlier in the session. Food and beverages was the only sector trading in the red.
European markets
Following a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit over the weekend, President Trump and President Xi confirmed that they do not intend to levy any new tariffs against each other's products at present, while Trump suggested a reversal of his administration's decision to ban American companies from selling products to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Markets surged after the opening bell, but momentum slowed after data showed euro zone factory activity contracting in June, with German activity slowing for the sixth month in a row, Italy falling for its ninth consecutive month, and Spain shrinking at its fastest rate in six years. The U.K.'s June manufacturing PMI reading fell to its lowest since October 2012.
European chipmakers monopolized the top of the European blue chip index on Monday in response to the Huawei news, with STMicro and ASMI adding more than 5% while AMS and Infineon also climbed more than 4% by mid-afternoon.
Stateside, the rose 0.8% and reach an all-time high of 2,977.86, breaking above its previous record of 2,964. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 152 points, or 0.6% as Nike and Apple outperformed. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1%.
Back in Europe, an emergency European Union summit to decide top jobs at the bloc has been suspended without a resolution until Tuesday. Former Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans has emerged as favorite to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission.
European investors and brokers are scrambling for solutions after a block on Swiss shares trading on EU exchanges came into force Monday, following the collapse of political treaty talks between Switzerland and the EU.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the first delivery of the Russian S-400 missile defense system will take place within 10 days, broadcaster NTV reported on Sunday, a day after Erdogan said Trump had told him there would be no U.S. sanctions over the deal.
Italian infrastructure group Atlantia saw its shares fall 3.8% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 Monday after amid fears the Italian government may terminate a national motorway concession which accounts for a third of the company's core profits.