European stocks closed higher Monday as investors monitor progress on various coronavirus vaccines, with markets looking to recover from consecutive losses fueled by the tech sector at the end of last week.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600Â provisionally closed 1.6% higher, with autos adding 2.6% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
A gauge of global stocks last week notched its biggest weekly percentage decline in almost three months as a downturn for U.S. tech megastocks, which had fueled much of the country's equity market recovery, weighed on sentiment.
Stocks in Asia Pacific closed mostly lower Monday, with investors monitoring further tensions between Washington and Beijing after the Trump administration said it was considering blacklisting Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's largest chipmaker.
China's dollar-denominated exports beat expectations in August to climb 9.5% from a year ago, while imports declined 2.1% in the same period.
Markets are closed stateside for the Labor Day holiday.
Back in Europe, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to say Monday that Britain and the European Union should "move on" if no free trade deal can be agreed before Oct. 15. The eighth round of Brexit negotiations recommences this week.
Germany on Sunday warned that a lack of Russian cooperation with its investigation into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny could force Europe's largest economy to rethink its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between the two countries.
In corporate news, a coronavirus vaccine being developed by France's Sanofi and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline will likely cost less than 10 euros ($11.80), the president of Sanofi France said Saturday.
Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday that further evidence has yet to be disclosed of additional spying incidents at Credit Suisse under the tenure of former CEO Tidjane Thiam. The bank is currently subject to enforcement action by Swiss regulator FINMA over the spying scandal which erupted late last year.
Britain's Dechra Pharmaceuticals saw its shares surge almost 7% after a strong earnings report, while at the other end of the European blue chip index, Luxembourg-based telecoms and satellite company SES slid around 5%.